Both Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Magdalena Andersson, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, launched their election bus tours on Monday, with Andersson unveiling a new…

Both Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Magdalena Andersson, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, launched their election bus tours on Monday, with Andersson unveiling a new slogan, "Time to take Sweden seriously" and Kristersson launching a rival tour. "There are now only 41 days left until the election and it is happening at a time when the world around us is more dangerous and unpredictable than it has been in a long time," Andersson said at the press conference. "That is going to put heavy demands on the leadership of Sweden, and at a time when powerful forces are trying to split us, we need to choose another way." She was scathing about the current government's management of the country, which she dismissed as marked by "divisive politics, failure, short-termism and misplaced priorities". "People who work hard and do everything right have become poorer," she said. "We have had sky-high unemployment, growth far below our potential, a record number of bankruptcies, a dismantled climate policy, chaos in the classrooms, long waiting times in healthcare, elderly care that is not up to par and now at the last second, yes, then they borrow, putting the entire Swedish people in debt for temporary investments that only apply over the election." If she is elected prime minister in September, she said, her government would focus its energy on "making Sweden stronger and improving everyday life for hardworking Swedes", following three core principles: "safer, richer, and more cohesive". Kristersson, meanwhile downplayed the opposition's lead in the polls, arguing that once voters understood what the two blocs stand for, support for the right-wing parties would grow. "Now we're beginning the second half," Kristersson said as he mounted the Moderate Party's election bus outside its Stockholm headquarters on the way to election events in Eskilstuna and Örebro, saying that the Social Democrats would take Sweden back to higher taxes and a softer approach to crime and immigration.