STOCKHOLM: Swedish politics seems set for the biggest change in nearly a decade in elections on Sunday, with the Social Democrats likely to win narrowly while the far right vote could soar.

Stefan Loefven, a 57-year-old former union leader with a working-class background and no parliamentary or senior governmental experience, is favourite to become the next prime minister.

According to the latest poll by Demoskop, published on Friday, the Social Democrats will win 29.2 percent of the votes.

Such a result would be among the worst ever for his party, which has largely dominated Swedish politics in the post-war period and modelled its social and economic model, under the leadership of figures like Olof Palme.

Loefven, a politician with limited charisma but an ability to rally people with colliding ideas under the same banner, could face a complicated government scenario.

The polls predict a very fragmented parliament, where a centre-left alliance will most likely only attain a fragile minority.

“Social Democrats seem to have set a goal of 35 per cent of the votes. And it looks like they won’t get it. This would be a problem for Stefan Loefven’s leadership,” said Mikael Sundstroem, a policial science professor at Lund University.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2014