Swedish Greens may fail next election threshold
Date: 27-Feb-02
Country: SWEDEN
But the Social Democrats are likely to receive enough votes to continue in government with the help of their other informal supporter, the ex-communist Left Party, they said.
"The Social Democrats will probably do fine without the Green Party," Mikael Gilljam, professor at Gothenburg University, told Reuters.
Political analysts said it would be extremely difficult for the Green Party to gain enough votes to pass the four percent threshold in the parliamentary elections, despite a recent reshuffle of leaders. Opinion poll support for the Greens has been below four percent for some time.
The ruling party, headed by Prime Minister Goran Persson, has gained voter support in recent opinion polls of around 40 percent. This, together with the 10-12 percent polled by the Left Party would ensure a majority in parliament.
The Social Democrats currently rely on the Greens and Left Party on budget policy, but draw support from the centre-right opposition on some other issues. There is no formal coalition.
Social Democrat Secretary Lars Stjernqvist said the presence of the Greens in parliament was not vital.
"I do not think the Green Party will define the question of government. With success in the elections it will be possible to build a government with other cooperation partners," he said.
Analysts said the Greens would need an environmental catastrophe to boost their popularity, as the party has recently been in the news mainly because of a debate about its proposal to replace two "party spokespeople" with a single leader, and its difficulties in finding candidates.