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Jane Fonda, King Arthur Battle in Sweden
With Sweden's general election too close to call, some of the smaller parties - from the serious to the absurd - grabbed some limelight on Friday.
American actress Jane Fonda visited Stockholm to drum up support for the Feminist Initiative, a fledgling party with slim chances of winning enough votes for a seat in parliament.
Speaking to some 300 supporters in a sun-filled central Stockholm square, Fonda, 68, called on Swedes to show there are "brave people in this country to support the feminist party."
With opinion polls showing a real chance that the centre-right opposition could topple the ruling Social Democrats in Sunday's vote after 12 years of rule, Sweden's election is garnering an unusual amount of international attention.
The Feminist Initiative is one of a plethora of fringe parties trying to gain a voice in a political system that has seen only three new parties enter parliament in decades.
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In a country known for its strong support of women's rights, polls show the party, which wants to put feminist issues atop the political agenda, has less than 1 percent support, well below the 4 percent needed for representation in parliament.
"The men in power have their own political agenda, whatever colour tie they wear," party spokeswoman Gudrun Schyman said.
Fonda will leave the campaign trail on Saturday to perform in the controversial hit play "The Vagina Monologues." Not far from the Feminist Initiative rally, a lone political hopeful held his own.
Dressed as a medieval knight, the man who identified himself only as King Arthur said his party, the Royal Initiative, wanted to restore power to the King.
"Society has been deteriorating for some time. We want to return power to the King, that is me," he said.
"We chose to try the parliamentary route first but I'm always armed and if this doesn't work I'll have to try more forceful measures," he added, brandishing a short wooden sword.
There is one drawback - King Arthur's party is not officially registered for the election.
Other fringe parties have slightly more realistic platforms and have chosen specific issues to woo voters on Sunday.
There's the Nordic Union party, which wants to form a union between Scandinavian neighbours Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
Younger technology-savvy Swedes have shown an interest in the Pirate Party, which wants to legalise file-sharing on the Internet and reform intellectual property laws to allow free downloads of music and movies.
(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.
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