Conservatives Win the Norwegian Election!

After 8 years of running the show, Jens Stoltenberg, the Labour PM, will hand over the reins of government to Erna Solberg, the leader of the Høyre party. (That translates as "Right," and is often referred to here as the Conservative party. The party's positions, however, are nowhere close to those of America's Republican party; they are more comparable to those of the Democrats, according to one Norwegian we spoke with.)

The run-up to the election was easy to ignore, unlike election campaigns in the USA. A week or two prior to the vote (for which all public schools were closed), posters began appearing on the buses and trams on the streets. One day, on the walk to school, we encountered a few young adults who were passing out literature. Here are examples of typical posters. Those of the parties on the right (yes, there are multiple parties on the right and the left, as Norway has a parliamentary system of government), could be easily taken, especially by those of us who have a minimal grasp of the language, for corporate ads.

Here's Erna: She'll be the second female PM in Norway's history (something that would draw lots of comment in the States but hasn't been talked about too much here). Her poster says: "Because Norway needs New ideas and better solutions!

Here's Jens: He got a lot of credit for his calm manner after the hideous shooting incident here two years ago, when Anders Breivik murdered over 70 Labour party youths at a summer camp. But subsequent investigations of the emergency response were critical and political opponents used this to criticize Stoltenberg. His poster says "We are ready to fight for what we believe in"; "The best school for ALL v. the best school for the few"; "The future of Norway is being decided now"; and something to the effect of "We will take Norway further with everyone together."

Labour is preferred by many Norwegian men, and the party actually won a plurality of the vote with 31%. But that is short of what was needed to form a government. In the past election, Labour teamed up with two other parties to create a governing coalition, but this time out, the addition of those parties added up to only 72 seats in parliament, well behind the 96 that Høyre, in combination with three other so-called center-right parties, got. (Labour outpolled Høyre by almost 4%.) 

Here's a poster for one of the parties Høyre will need to work with--the KrF (short for Kristelig Folkeparti or Christian-Democrats). We saw several different posters featuring party leader Knut Arild Hareide, whom I found unappealing. The heart motif also struck me as treacly and corny. The poster says "The family knows best" and goes on to promise that the Christian-Dems will "give the family greater choice through flexible parental leave until the child is ten years old" and "increased steady support." (I do like a couple of their positions: removing taxes on fruit and veggies, and making sure everyone who gets permanent residency status receives a "welcome package.")

Basically, all the parties can offer people pretty much anything, including increased expenditures AND lower taxes, because Norway is so incredibly rich. The riches are from oil, the profits from which have been put into a fund that now totals something like three-quarters of a trillion dollars. There are apparently some disagreements among the parties are over how much of the interest from this fund can be spent yearly; spending is currently capped at 4%. The Fremskrittspartiet (FrP)--referred to commonly in English-language news stories as the Progress Party--has favored raising the limit. But that party is much more notable for its position on immigration. They don't favor it, or I should say, they oppose it when the immigrants are from nonwestern countries. Sound familiar?

It is the misnamed Progress Party, led by a bruiser of a gal, Siv Jensen, that has, after 40 years in existence, finally been invited into a governing coalition (with Høyre). The FrP actually LOST votes in contrast to the last election when it garnered something like 25%. The loss of support is attributed largely to the party having been tainted, in some voters' minds, by the discovery that the gunman Breivik had once been a member of FrP, and that some of Breivik's writings echoed the ideas that a FrP member had advanced. (Breivik dropped out of the party because he felt it was not extreme enough.)

Here's a photo of Siv Jensen. Not sure when this dates from. It captures her determination but not her charisma, such as it is. I saw her interviewed on NRK (Norway's BBC); she'd chosen to be filmed working out at a gym with a personal trainer. My Norwegian is quite limited but she seemed to be saying something about the importance of a strong body for a strong mind.

For Høyre and the Progress Party to form a government, they will still need participation from at least one other right-leaning party, and perhaps two. Both of those parties--the Christian Dems and the Liberal Party (not "liberal" in Americans use of the term, but "liberal" in the traditional meaning, as in everyone is a free actor in the marketplace)--said prior to the election that they would not form a coalition if it included FrP, because of FrP's stance on immigration. 

Immigration--it is the thorny issue that Norway is are grappling with. Apparently, the majority of the immigrants ARE from other European countries. But they are less noticeable here in the land, traditionally, of the blond and blue-eyed. Siv Jensen believes that the Somalis are a big problem, that they are moochers who will not get jobs. (She says that the Somalis in America have shown entrepreneurial initiative, so it is not innate to Somalis to be lazy; it is the generous welfare in Norway that has made them so.) The rhetoric is taking me back to the early Reagan presidency. Ah, nostalgia. Siv's role model, she says, is Maggie Thatcher. 

SJ is also quite unhappy about Muslims generally, arguing that Norway is a secular nation with a separation of Church and State and has no place for Muslims who want to practice Islam. Now that the election is over, perhaps Siv will have the time to take a tour of the Royal Palace, where the guide will explain that the King is both the head of the Norwegian government and the head of the Church.)

Not to make light of the immigration issue. Or of Siv. The FrP did get 16% of the vote.