Fjordman

Norway: 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. 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.

posted by Unknown @ 3:02 PM