The guy in Bush's embrace is current Norwegian PM Kjell Magne Bondevik.
Don't expect Jens Stoltenberg to get so close, literally or otherwise.
Posted on 09/12/2005 11:38:46 AM PDT by dagnabbit
Election thriller underway The latest opinion polls showed Norway's socialist and non-socialist party coalitions running neck and neck as voters started casting ballots in earnest Monday morning. Around 10 percent of the voters remained undecided, meaning they were expected to swing the outcome. Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, fighting for his political life, took advantage of early voting and cast his ballot at Kolbotn School on Sunday.
PHOTO: JAN FR. ERICHSEN/SCANPIX
Main opponent Jens Stoltenberg, meanwhile, gave away free oranges to potential voters out hiking.
PHOTO: ØRN E BORGEN
Related stories: NHO demands cooperation with Progress Party - 09.09.2005 Election suspense grows - 09.09.2005 Government bounces back - 08.09.2005 Accuse Conservatives of election sabotage - 07.09.2005 The real power broking likely will go on Tuesday, when party leaders negotiate which parties will support which coalition. The Labour Party dominated Norwegian politics for nearly four decades after World War II, but no single party has commanded a majority since the early 1990s.
That has left the clearly socialist and non-socialist parties relying on support from the more centrist parties to form a ruling coalition. They're known to go either way, with the Center Party itself taking part in a non-socialist government coalition in the late 1990s, but supporting the so-called "Red Green Alliance" this time around.
The alliance, led by the Labour Party and the Socialist Left (SV), has promised to spend more public money on traditional social welfare projects, from filling up closed public swimming pools to refurbishing shabby schools and boost staffing at nursing homes. They held the lead in public opinion polls until early last week.
The current non-socialist government, formed by the Christian Democrats, the Conservatives and the LIberals, has claimed that the socialists can't be trusted and likely will raise taxes. They rebounded in the polls about six days ago.
Much has been made of Norway's oil wealth, but the biggest political battles are over how to spend it or save it. Many voters, meanwhile, have grown weary of hearing how wealthy Norway is, while hospitals, schools, and other basic services such as garbage collection and street-cleaning languish under budget constraints.
Both the right-wing Progress Party and the tiny Coastal Party may prove the jokers in the complicated political negotiations that loom after the election.
Many Norwegians already have voted, taking advantage of early polling at selected locations. Polls opened at 7am Monday for the rest and would stay open until 8pm. The first results were to start ticking in late Monday evening.
Figures..most of Europe is going to the right/center...
Headline fix please. Thanks.
Not true, in Italy there is the high risk to go to left, next year.
A Scandinavian country going left politically.... how is that breaking news??? Sounds like the same-old same-old.
Nothing left of Norway but the sea.
A søcialist ønce bit my sister.
LOL
I thought they were going to pull Italy out of the EU..hardly a leftist idea..
"how is that breaking news???"
How is it even possible? ;-)
The guy in Bush's embrace is current Norwegian PM Kjell Magne Bondevik.
Don't expect Jens Stoltenberg to get so close, literally or otherwise.
Here's the socialist who wants to bite Norway. Glamor-boy Jens.
Aftenposten is reporting it as if it is a done deal: the red green bloc will control the Storting (Parliament) for the next four years.
It will be interesting to see how this affects Norway's participation in the GWOT. Norway has provided SOF to work with the American-led Coalition in Afghanistan, and extensive troops to work with NATO's ISAF. Whether that stays probably depends on the red-green balance (the greens being, IIRC, quite a bit to the left of the reds on national defence).
Amusingly, Aftenposten also has a little story in the bottom left -- the military is getting 50 m kronor to fight illegal immigration -- from Russia.
When I was there, we were concerned about the Russians coming to cross the border, too, but in an entirely different way.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
I suppose countries should expect to fall to the left if oil is their economic foundation. After all, even the government can manage oil production, and how do you thwart voters from gravitating to those that promise a bigger share of that pie?
Apparently nearly half remain ignorant as a stone.
True. AP isn't entirely whacked out on defense, but they're in bed now with the freaks from SV and RV.
Do we even have a dog in this fight?
Mind yøu, søcialist bites can be nastii.
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