Left-wing opposition returns to power in Norway | Globalism

“We listened and waited and worked hard, and now we can say: We did it!” Store, the likely next prime minister, was announced amid a welcome from his supporters.

The five opposition parties are expected to win 104 out of 169 seats in Norway’s unicameral Storting, enough to dislodge the conservative right-wing coalition led by Erna Solberg, according to expectations.

With 89 seats so far, Støre’s Labor Party will have an absolute majority with its main allies, the Socialist Center and Left Party, without the need for other opposition forces, MDG environmentalists and the Communists.

“Norway has sent a clear message: the elections show that the Norwegian people want a more equitable society,” said Store, a 61-year-old millionaire who campaigned against social inequality.

left facing north

A record 1.6 million Norwegians, representing 42.3% of the electorate, resorted to early voting, which began the day before in major cities.

As a result of the Norwegian outcome, the left will again lead the five Nordic countries, the strongholds of democratic socialism.

“The conservative party’s job in government is over for this time,” said Solberg, who has ruled the Scandinavian country since 2013, a record for the right.

“I congratulate Jonas Gahr Store who, for the time being, appears to have a clear majority for a change of government.”

A “red alert for mankind” issued in early August by experts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), put global warming at the center of the election campaign and forced the country to reflect on the fate of the oil activities that made the nation. very rich.

The report encourages the left, and to a lesser extent the right, who want to get rid of the oil.

The Millennium Development Goal calls for an immediate end to oil drilling, and an end to oil drilling by 2035. This ultimatum was rejected by Store, who graduated in political science in Paris and was a minister in Jens Stoltenberg’s government between 2005 and 2013.

Like the Conservatives, Labor – the country’s other big force – has ruled out ceding oil profits and called for a gradual withdrawal.

In Norway, the oil sector accounts for 14% of GDP, more than 40% of exports and 160,000 direct jobs.

“Demand for oil is falling. This is happening on its own under market law. It should not be enacted (…), but rather to build bridges for future activities,” Labor energy head Espen Barth Eddy told AFP. .

Norway’s conservatives have spent eight years in power, a record, amid multiple crises – from immigrants to falling oil prices and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I want a more just society with opportunities for all, where we strive to get everyone to work. This is the number one priority,” Store said Monday, also calling for “fair climate policy.”

“We will take all the time necessary to talk to the other parties,” he stressed, minutes before the forecasts were published.

Popular Prime Minister Solberg damaged her image by violating her own rules of social distancing during her 60th birthday celebration in March, a misstep that also cost her a heavy fine.

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