The film team is closer. I think...
Thank you very much.
No, it just becomes 29 here.
Here you have the list, here you have the... here is the national list and the region... they are like this.
No, it's fine.
these...
I have to do...
Thanks.
Then we'll bring out the protocols. Thank you very much.
Anna, I'll just say that now the media... if there is anyone who really doesn't want to, they can step out of the group, and we will be broadcasting here, TV4 and... yes, exactly.
here... away... Yes, if you go... close up.
Hello.
Hello. Hello. Hello. It's fine. It's fine. Hello. It's fine. Hello. Yes. Yes. Do you have a cover over there, colleague? Great. She starts there then? She starts here. No, you start there. Starts here.
Who is...
Yes, then the base goes here and picks up the voice.
Yes, come.
What... be involved too... or...
Oh, the interest in the election in Strängnäs has never been so...
Ready, right?
Hello, hello, hello. I unfortunately...
Yes. Yes. You just get to vote. Yes. Yes, exactly. Can't vote on... Yes, or we [laughter] can take yours. Yes, so...
Thanks for that. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
One, two, three. Yes.
Do you want to come in... look... with...
Yes, it's the last... Yes, here is the last of the things... it is a track... queue...
Yes, hello everyone, welcome to Strängnäs. As I said, never before has the election in Strängnäs attracted as much attention as today. There are seven days, seven hours left to vote, so that crime always pays and crime always gets punished. If you feel unsure, you can vote now. If you voted wrong, you can vote again. So it's a very nice election campaign, I think. A fun election campaign, a dynamic election campaign, important policy issues at the center, and clearly we have gained momentum these last few weeks. So it's a very, very exciting evening to follow, I think. Nice to be in Strängnäs and vote.
Good. Then we'll move a little bit away so we're not in the way of those who are going to vote. Stand here. Now we'll take them one at a time. We'll start with TV4, which has two minutes. Shall we start with Strängnäs Tidning? This one should have hope. We'll start with Strängnäs Tidning. They are ready. No. Okay, we can just one minute. Okay, Prime Minister. Yes, but now we'll take these first. Prime Minister, how do you feel?
I feel great. Very hopeful. We had a great campaign, an enthusiastic campaign, extremely important topics on the table, and I think we are in a good position to be able to win this election.
How do you feel about the comeback just a few weeks ago? You were far away, now the gap is very tight.
Well, it's not that complicated. I have told colleagues of yours all the time that polls are polls, you know, and it's actually the election result that really counts. And all those who think, you know, if you think you are winning because of good polls, you are not winning. If you think you are losing, good or bad, you are losing. So I was quite convinced that eventually the two real alternatives would be kind of compared and contested, and I think we have won on that comparison.
Thank you. Thank you. Now we have a live interview with TV4 over here, and I'll ask you to move back just a little bit. Thank you.
So I have with me Ulf Kristersson, who has just cast his vote. I can guess where he put his vote. Yes, we have the secrecy of the ballot here in Sweden. We do have that. Kristersson, now your fate is in the hands of 8 million Swedish voters. Do you feel that you have done the very most you can to win this election?
Yes, I feel that, on my own behalf and above all on democracy's behalf, it has been a fantastic, fine election campaign. Both fun, as an election should be, intensive, many miles, many door knocks. Yes, but very nice, I think. I think we got the policy issues to the center in the end and the government alternatives to the center in the end. So I really feel we have done everything we can to...
And what is your gut feeling about what will happen? Well, my gut feeling is good. It has been that now for several weeks. I think others have felt that too. We have momentum on our side. But now we have to wait for the result. After all, there are still seven hours of campaigning left in some places around the country, so nothing is decided for everything.
This could be your last day as prime minister. You may have to lead a transition government if you should lose. But is there anything you feel you haven't ticked off that you must do now in these last seven hours as prime minister? Well, that's not how you should think. You don't take any victories in advance, nor any defeats in advance. My work is that you are prime minister around the clock, all the time. That is also my election campaign.
It may be difficult after the election to see who the winner is today, given how the early voting looks. But if you get to continue as prime minister, how easy will it be for you to form a government?
Well, if the blue-and-yellow team wins, it will be easy in that sense. We know what we want. We agree on the direction, and then it's always difficult to negotiate. You have to negotiate an entire government program. You have to negotiate an entirely new government. That is not uncomplicated. It may be harder than you think. You don't usually see so much of it. We usually do it in peace and quiet, and then we come out with a joint result, and that will be the case this time too. It's a bit different if the other side had some kind of mathematical majority to combine the Centre and the Left's tax policy. I wouldn't recommend that. We thank the city of Strängnäs.
Thanks. Then we'll take Strängnäs Tidning. Of course. Ready. You actually had the chance first... Strängnäs Tidning. Anna. Yes. And everyone else will get an interview. So just stay calm.
Hello. Hello.
Yes, how does it feel to cast your vote here in Strängnäs?
Well, it's always a solemn occasion, I think, to vote. I always vote on Sundays. And it's extra fun to do it at home in Strängnäs, of course.
And which issue do you think will be pointed out as the most important in this election campaign in hindsight?
You can't know that. But I would say there are reasons why I have said that this is a choice we make between two completely different views on fundamental issues of principle. If I had to pick two, I would still say that the mortgage tax and the volume discount are, I think, clear examples of the very large differences between the blue-and-yellow side and the red-and-green side.
And which election promise do you feel most confident about being able to implement if you get the chance to govern for four more years?
I think all the election promises we have put forward are very realistic. We don't promise things that we don't feel very sure we can implement. 93% of our promises from the last election have been implemented or begun. So we take such things seriously. We can compromise, we can negotiate, we can prioritize. Those are usually the kinds of things that make it possible to deliver.
And if the election result is weaker than you hope, what responsibility do you take personally? Will you step down as party leader?
I don't plan for losses. I plan for victory.
Thanks. Thanks. Shall we take you here? Yes. Kristersson, it has become tighter in the polls, and you know that the Sweden Democrats are in government. Do you have 12 ministers?
I have said throughout the election that government negotiations about exact priorities, exact government declarations, and exact ministerial posts and departments — those come afterwards. We have a saying in Sweden that you shouldn't sell the fur before the bear is shot, and I intend to apply that.
We have that in Norway too. That year in Norway, a year ago during the election campaign, there was a discussion between Frp and Høyre about who would take the prime ministership. How important has it been for you to have that prime ministership?
It's quite obvious. Everyone knows that you can only become prime minister if you bring parties and voters together for joint action, a joint majority, joint action — and I have shown over the years that I can do that. I have also understood that all parties would actually like to form their own government. But on my side, it is I who can bring the party together for a joint government. When I was at the election campaign finale with Jimmie Åkesson in Kungsträdgården yesterday, that is a different political culture we see in that party. Are you ready, Erik?
All eight parties in Sweden — it's simply that we have different party cultures in all parties. We didn't get to see that we can do eight things jointly like the previous government, where they lost three of the eight. So it's completely different. We have proven our ability. Thanks a lot.
Yes. Today it is decided who will be prime minister for 20 more years. How does that feel? Are you nervous?
I'm not the nervous type, really. But it's a bit tense, of course. It's an important day, a solemn day. Today it is the Swedish people who decide Sweden's political future. But I feel confident and have good hope for tonight's result.
So if the four parties win this, what do you see ahead of you? What will be the hardest questions when you sit down to put together this new government?
I don't think there is any single question that is hard. Negotiations are always hard. I usually say that we are eight parties in the Swedish Parliament and none is even close to a majority on their own. It is only we who have the ability to compromise but in a definite common direction.
And that's something I think you have proven over these last four years. Because it will be harder sometimes, perhaps, to understand... it's not exactly the same thing. You discuss it properly, and then we will also...
How does it look with Plan B then, if you should lose and the Moderates have a bad election? What conclusions do you draw?
No, during an election campaign you work to win completely... the people's vote.
But it becomes a kind of confidence vote about you in a way, this election as prime minister. You are always... it's not...
It looks even in the polls, and you have recovered somewhat. What do you think this recovery is really based on? How would you explain it?
I'm not so surprised by that. I said already on the 61st that when the alternatives are really set against each other, when all these pretend alternatives that some have hoped for — the lone Social Democrats who lose every time up to 84 — when they disappear, and they have disappeared, there are two important sides facing each other, and then politics is tested.
My election... Social Democrats, Left... and we have won a lot.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
How hopeful are you for tonight? Hopeful. I think we have had a great campaign, actually, all these six, seven weeks, but not least the last weeks have been fantastic. I think we have made an enormous job. I think there is a genuine enthusiasm about us being able to continue our important work.
And looking ahead, if you win or lose, it will be tight anyway, which means it will be difficult to have a majority in parliament.
How do you see it if we win, my team wins? It will not be that complicated. We have been doing these negotiations for four years, eight consecutive budgets, no problems. Of course, a lot of discussions, negotiations, as always, but we do it in a very orderly manner, no chaos at all. If we win, a very proper negotiation for the next government program and for the next budget and for the next cabinet.
If the four parties on the other side, in some kind of technical sense, win, they will need to be able to combine the Centre parties' more or less libertarian economic policy with the far-left parties' most socialist economic policy. Good luck.
And have you seen any foreign interference in the election so far? No, we have not, and I'm quite sure that our civil servants and agencies working with that would be very alert if they had seen any signs of that. I think we have had a fair, just fair election.
Thank you very much. Quick question for you: you say you feel confident today after voting?
Confident? I mean, I'm very... I'm hopeful. I have a good feeling. We've had a good campaign, but obviously no one can be confident because, you know, in some hours' time we will have a more or less final result, perhaps later this evening or perhaps in a few days' time. So it depends on how narrow the margins will be. But I have a very good sense of... I'm very hopeful and I have a good feeling.
Do you have a vision on the negotiations that would come afterwards? Vision? You know, we are so well prepared. We have been negotiating for four years. We have prepared and confirmed eight consecutive budgets. So we know what we are doing. So I think people also rely on that. They know they will have an experienced cabinet with experienced ministers, parties that are well prepared for negotiations. But in that, I'm very confident.
And how difficult will it be for you, do you think?
I mean, you know, we have eight parties in the Swedish Parliament and no party is even close to having a majority of their own. So the precondition for getting things done is actually the ability to compromise, to have a clear vision but be pragmatic in the steps you take. And I think we have shown that for the last four years, and if we get the people's votes, we will continue to do that for the coming years as well. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
And you have 1342... with us driving there. No, but we can drive now. Can drive now. We're recording. Coming... driving...
