Swedish opposition keeps lead in polls before Sunday election

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's center-left opposition has a lead of between 5.3 and 5.7 percentage points over the ruling center-right government ahead of Sunday's election, the last two scheduled polls before the vote showed. Polls have consistently shown the center left ahead, but a majority have shown the gap narrowing over the past two weeks. A poll by Novus, commissioned by TV4, showed on Saturday the Social Democrat, Green and Left parties - which do not comprise a formal coalition - had 45.8 percent support against 40.5 percent for the four-party Alliance government - a 5.3-point lead. In the previous Novus poll, published on Sept. 10, the opposition had a 3.6 percent lead. A poll by Sifo published earlier on Saturday and commissioned by daily Svenska Dagbladet, showed the opposition had 45.7 percent support against 40.0 percent for the government - a 5.7-point lead. In the previous Sifo poll on Sept. 10, the gap was 6.2 percentage points. In the Sifo poll, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats got 10.3 points. Feminist Initiative, a left-of-center party, got 3.0 percent, below the 4 percent threshold to get into parliament. In the Novus poll, the Sweden Democrats got 9.6 points and Feminist Initiative 3.3 percent. If the election result were to reflect the polls, the center left would hold more seats in parliament than the current government but not an outright majority of 175 seats or more. The Sweden Democrats would be able to block government bills by siding with the Alliance. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by John Stonestreet)