Norway has held its parliamentary election, where, according to preliminary results, Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s Conservative Party has gained second place, leaving Labour victorious, British news portal The Guardian reports.
«The Conservative government’s work is finished for this time around,» Solberg told supporters on Monday. «I want to congratulate Jonas Gahr Støre, who now seems to have a clear majority for a change of government.»
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The Labour leader, Jonas Gahr Støre, told a cheering and clapping crowd: «We waited, we hoped, and we have worked so hard, and now we can finally say it: We did it!» However, the exact shape of the «Red-Green» coalition set to run the Nordic country is far from clear. Official preliminary results suggest Støre’s centre-left party will win 48 seats in Norway’s 169-seat parliament, with his preferred three-party coalition on course for a slim majority of MPs.
And yet, Støre’s potential alliance with the agrarian Centre party, on 28 seats, and the Socialist Left, on 13, is divided over key issues including whether to also seek the support of two smaller left-wing parties, the communist Red party and the Greens. Even a three-party left-leaning coalition would require the future prime minister to convince his potential partners to compromise on a range of policies, from the future of the oil industry and private ownership to Norway’s relations with the EU, The Guardian reports.
After Norwegian parliamentary election, PM Solberg concedes defeat
