Sweden begins general election campaigns

Large scale gatherings and presentations for the Swedish general elections to be held on Sept. 19 began over the weekend in Stockholm.

The ruling Alliance leader, current Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, said in his speech that the alliance's top priority is to continue to decrease the tax, especially for the retired people.

"Swedish people are already benefitted from the lower tax policy. The nurses have 1,500 kronor (about 219 U.S. dollars) extra per month in their wallet," Reinfeldt told the audience on Saturday.

Swedish claim to pay the highest income tax in the world. Reinfeldt said that lowering tax can make those who work have more money and employers can hire more employees.

Sweden is also seen as a country which recovered more quickly from the global financial and economic crisis compared with other European countries. Reinfeldt seems to continue to focus more on economy.

The opposition, Social Democratic Party leader Mona Sahlin, said their focus is to provide more jobs to the young people while insisting high tax.

She criticized Reinfeldt's Moderates of having the wrong priorities at her rally on Sunday.

"The Moderates think that lowering taxes is the priority. They don't see any others. Not youth unemployment, not exclusion of the sick ... not growing inequality between people," she said.

Surveys show that the two parties are on a fierce competition in attracting supporters.

This year's election is between the ruling Alliance and the red-green combination of the Social Democratic Party, Left Party and Green Party.

The Alliance is composed of Moderate Party, Center Party, Christian Democratic Party and People's Party.

Although Moderate Party gained more support during the past four years, the Christian Democratic Party and Center Party have seen decrease of support. It is reported that the latter two parties are almost on the verge of out of the parliament.

Sweden holds general elections every four years. The Alliance won the 2006 elections after a long-term Social Democratic Party-led ruling.

Source:Xinhua