Swedish Green Party faces parliament exit in next election-poll

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Greens, the junior party in the ruling coalition, would not get into parliament if a vote were held now, a poll showed on Friday, underlining the fragile position of the minority government led by the centre-left Social Democrats.The Green Party got 3.2 percent in the poll by Inizio for daily Aftonbladet, below the 4 percent threshold needed for seats in parliament and well down on the 6.9 percent they scored in the 2014 general election.Green voters have been turned off by a series of gaffes and ministerial resignations as well as the price the party has had to pay to stay in government, including agreeing to tighter asylum rules and a deal that could see Sweden build new nuclear reactors.Last year, Sweden made a u-turn on decades of generous refugee policies, unable to cope with up to 10,000 asylum seekers a week crossing its borders.The centre-left coalition has struggled since taking power in 2014 as a result of surging support for the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who hold the balance of power in parliament.The Social Democrats - partners with the Greens in government - were on 26.1 percent with the Left Party, which supports the coalition, on 9.4 percent.Backing for the Sweden Democrats fell to 17.9 percent from 19.5 percent in the previous poll in June. But the party, which got around 13 percent at the last election, looks like being able to block either the centre-right or centre-left from taking power in 2018.With none of the mainstream parties so far willing to do a deal with the Sweden Democrats, who have their roots are in the extreme right, forming a new government could prove a major headache.(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)Join the conversation about this story
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