STOCKHOLM, 31 August 2003 — With just two weeks to go before Swedes vote whether to swap their krona for the euro, Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson said in an interview that it was wrong to put the issue to a referendum. “I have never been a supporter of a referendum. But when that turned out to be the political solution one just had to accept it. But it is not an ideal solution, absolutely not,” Persson told the regional daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet yesterday.
Persson, a fierce euro supporter who has according to polls so far failed to convince Swedes of the benefits of the single currency, said he would have preferred for Parliament to decide the issue.
But the referendum became inevitable in 1999 when former Prime Minister Carl Bildt, then head of the opposition conservative Moderate party, “stood up in Parliament and declared that ‘now we are going to have a referendum’,” Persson said.
Persson said that any attempt to do otherwise would have been political suicide, as such a move would have been seen as undemocratic. He said he would have preferred to link the euro issue to legislative elections, so that Parliament could analyze the election result and make a final decision about the euro.
With his own Social Democratic Party deeply divided over the euro issue despite a party congress decision to support Swedish euro entry, Persson said he had throughout the referendum campaign met many Swedes who were angry about having to make up their minds.
“There is anger about the fact that you have to have an opinion. There are people who think it is very difficult to have an opinion on this. I can understand that,” he said. Since Persson called the referendum in November, opinion polls have consistently shown that Swedes are opposed to abandoning the krona.
In recent days, polls have credited the “no” camp with between 45 and 50 percent of the vote, the “yes” camp with less than 40 percent and the number of undecideds at between 10 and 15 percent.
A Ruab survey published yesterday showed naysayers widening their lead by one percentage point in the past week, crediting the “no” camp with 46.7 percent of votes and the “yes” camp with 39.1 percent. It showed the number of undecideds dropping from 18.5 to 14.2 percent.
The poll, which questioned more than 2,000 people during the period August 19 to 27, also showed that one in three opponents of the euro also want Sweden to withdraw from the European Union, which it joined in 1995. Meanwhile, only 1.3 percent of euro supporters want Sweden to leave the EU.
Persson on Friday said his government could delay euro membership beyond the expected 2006 start date even if voters approve a switch to the euro. Speaking on Swedish radio, Persson also said the EU Stability and Growth Pact, which lays down strict rules for public finances, would have to be intact for his government to take the plunge.