A month ago, the conservative opposition parties had pulled ahead as Prime Minister Goeran Persson's government was reeling under the impact of a damning report on its handling of the previous year's tsunami crisis.

But on Thursday, the Social Democrats and its allies, the Left Party and the Green Party, appeared on the upswing again, garnering a combined 49.7 percent of voting intentions, against 48.7 for the conservative bloc, according to the Demoskop poll, published in Swedish media.

A month ago, a Sifo poll credited the opposition parties with a combined 56.4 percent of voter support, against just 43.6 percent for Persson and his parliamentary allies.

Demoskop questioned 1,003 voters between January 2 and 10.

Sweden's general election is scheduled for September 17.

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