After lending their informal support to the Social Democrats in parliament over the past four years, the formerly communist Left Party and the Greens have said it loud and clear: they will no longer back the Social Democrats unless they receive posts in government.

And with public opinion polls crediting the Social Democrats with around 37 percent of the popular vote, Persson can no longer ignore the left wing's demands.

But he is trying his best.

"I am not running a campaign for a coalition government, I am running a re-election campaign for the Social Democrats," Persson said recently, admitting that he was "nervous, but not worried".

Left Party leader Gudrun Schyman said that Persson would have to listen to voters.

"It's not Persson who decides, it's the voters. After the election results are in, we will sit down at the table to discuss demands," she told Nampa-AFP.

While the Social Democrats are set to remain the largest party in the country after Sunday's election, the left-wing bloc which they form with the Left and Greens has seen its lead in the polls inexorably shrinking.

The centre-right opposition, consisting of the conservative Moderates, Liberals, Centre and Christian Democrats, has surged in the polls in the final weeks of the election campaign, and the two blocs are now running neck-and-neck.

Ironically, the Social Democrats risk losing the election at their own hands: 20 percent of Social Democratic voters say they don't plan to go to the polls on Sunday.

The Greens, meanwhile, have threatened to bring down the current government -- which doesn't have to resign until a new government is formed -- if they are not promised a seat in the next cabinet.

"We will vote for a government where we are represented, and against any government in which we are not represented," the co-leaders of the Greens, Maria Wetterstrand and Peter Eriksson, said on Tuesday.

Contrary to the centre-right, the left bloc has not presented a joint platform and the leaders of the three parties have repeatedly stressed the differences in their social and economic policies.

Many have wondered whether the Social Democrats could form an alliance with the Centre Party, as was the case in the 1950s, since the parties share a number of views.

But both Persson and Centre Party leader Maud Olofsson have rejected any possibility of a cooperation.

"Goeran Persson still thinks like an old socialist. He's headed entirely in the wrong direction," Olofsson told Nampa-AFP.

"We don't know what he plans to do with his allies... there are more differences between the Social Democrats and the Left than between the four parties in the centre-right bloc," she said.

Persson rejected Olofsson's criticism.

"When you don't have the one you love, love the one you're with," he said, noting that he preferred "Gudrun to Maud".

While the Left has put pressure on Persson, it has not gone as far as the Greens in its demands.

For Gudrun Schyman, the differences between the Social Democrats and the Left are "acceptable", including such issues as the adoption of the euro, which the Left, the Greens and the Centre all oppose.

Schyman is quick to point out that three ministers in Persson's current government are also opposed to the idea of joining the single European currency" they are Culture Minister Marita Ulvskog, Trade Minister Leif Pagrotsky and Agriculture Minister Margareta Winberg.

"And besides, it appears that a majority of members of parliament are in favour of the euro," she said.

Goeran Persson, a strong advocate of the single European currency, has said he plans to call a referendum next year, once he feels Swedes are ready to abandon their krona.

"What matters is that we get a majority on the night of September 15. If that's the case, then we'll find an agreement," Schyman said.

Nampa-AFP

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