Quotes of the Day

Sunday, Sep. 04, 2005

Open quoteNorway is often rated the best country to live in: for the fifth consecutive year, it tops the United Nations' Human Development Index, which considers wealth, education and life expectancy. Norway's economy is the envy of the world: an expected 3.6% growth for 2005, almost nonexistent inflation of 1.4%, unemployment scraping the bottom at 3.7% and interest rates down at 2%.

With everything so rosy, why does the Norwegian population of 4.6 million seem so eager to toss the center-right minority government of Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik out of office in next week's election? Polls indicate a win for the opposition, a Red-Green alliance headed by Labor leader Jens Stoltenberg, who held the premiership for a short period in 2000-01. In the most recent opinion poll, published in the daily newspaper Aftenposten, Labor and its two support parties stand to win 52.2% (Labor: 34.6%) of the votes corresponding to 94 seats in the 169-seat Parliament.

What can Stoltenberg provide that Bondevik can't? Stability, and the country's first majority government in at least two decades, according to Professor Frank Aarebrot from the Department of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen. He argues that minority governments have to "maneuver in a kind of zigzag, slalom manner. The challengers promise a majority government and thus a stable budget situation. That appeals to the electorate."

The 46-year-old Labor leader's good looks and convincing style also appeal to voters, particularly women and the young. "Stoltenberg has won all the debates he has taken part in," says Aarebrot. And the opposition also seems to be winning support by backing a traditional welfare state. "Market conditions and privatization are not the way to go when we are talking about health, education and care," Stoltenberg said in a recent interview with Aftenposten.

Meanwhile, the tax cuts that helped the Prime Minister's Christian People's Party and its conservative partners gain power in 2001 seem to have lost their widespread appeal. Recent polls indicate that the Christian People's Party will gain just 5.6% of the votes compared to 12.4% at the last election. With everything going so well in Norway, all people may want is a new face. Stoltenberg, dubbed "every mother-in-law's dream" since he began in politics, seems to be just that face.Close quote

  • ULLA PLON
  • Why does Norway's government look like losing a general election?
| Source: Norway tops the charts for quality of life. So why does its government look like losing the election?