NORWAY (3)

Despite the taxi stunt, Jens Stoltenberg did indeed lose the general election held in Norway on 9 September. Although his Labour Party still got the most seats of any party, it was clear that the right-of-centre coalition, headed by the Conservatives' Erna Solberg, had won.

However, it was then that the problems started. One of the quirks of the Norwegian political system is that fresh elections are not allowed within the 4-year electoral cycle. So it's important to be able to form a Government that lasts the full term. The difficulty was that within the winning 4-party coalition, there were huge differences between the very right-wing, anti-immigrant Progress Party which came third after the Conservatives, and two small centrist parties. After a month of negotiations, it is clear that those differences could not be bridged. Ms. Solberg has therefore had to make do with a minority Government consisting of just the Conservatives and the Progress Party under Siv Jensen. It will have 77 of the 169 seats in Parliament, 8 short of a majority. Presumably on contentious issues, their erstwhile partners will either abstain or vote selectively, thereby allowing legislation to proceed.

What sort of legislation is needed in a super-rich, peaceful, well-functioning society? The general theme of the governmental programme is lower taxes and greater spending on infrastructure from the enormous Nkr.4.2 trillion state oil fund. Apart from that, there will be tougher jail sentences for criminals, more restrictions on immigrants, a raising of the speed limit on motorways from the current 100km/h, national service for all, the legalisation of professional boxing and poker, and an easing of the rules for buying alcohol (Norway has long had the same state monopoly of the sale of alcohol as Sweden has).

If this seems small beer for non-Norwegians, it is certainly not in Norway. The alcohol measures in particular were a bridge too far for the Christian Democrats, whose strength comes from the highly religious people living in the highlands (think Babette's Feast with mountains). For them, the idea that the Vinmonopol will be able to stay open as long as ordinary shops is not far short of a revolution.

The other interesting facet of the Government is that it will be headed by two women. As in other things, Norway leads the world in equal opportunities for women. It will be interesting to see how they do.

Walter Blotscher