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Norway’s Premier Wins Re-Election, First in 16 Years
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Norwegian Labor Party Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg became the first leader in 16 years to win re-election after steering the Nordic nation out of a recession and vowing to improve welfare.
Labor and its partners, the Socialist Left and the Center Party, secured 86 seats out of 169 seats in parliament, after 99.9 percent of the votes were counted. The opposition, fronted by the Progress Party and Conservative Party, won 83 mandates.
Stoltenberg, 50, the first premier re-elected since his mentor Gro Harlem Brundtland won a second term in 1993, spent a record of Norway’s $430 billion petroleum wealth this year to revive the economy and keep unemployment at the lowest in Europe. Voters rejected the oppositions’ calls for tax cuts.
“It looks like the sitting government will be re- elected,” said Johannes Bergh, a political scientist at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo. “It’s quite unusual and a great victory for the Labor Party.”
Labor won 64 seats, up from 61 in 2005. The Socialist Left fell 4 seats to 11 and the Center Party kept its 11 mandates. The Progress Party gained 3 to 41 seats and the Conservatives surged 7 to 30 seats. The Liberals dropped 8 to 2 seats and the Christian Democrats declined 1 to 10 seats.
“We’re three parties who have worked together for four years, so we have a lot of issues in common,” Stoltenberg said in a televised interview yesterday. “I’m confident we will find common solutions.”
Social Benefits
Stoltenberg has promised to keep taxes stable and spend more money on elderly care as the party strives for full employment. Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen’s Socialist Left vowed to stop an expansion of oil and gas exploration in environmentally sensitive areas in northern Norway and the Center Party promised to spend more on roads and railways.
“It’s more about what you don’t get than what you get,” Stein Bruun, chief economist at SEB Enskilda ASA in Oslo, said in an interview today. “You’re not getting lower taxes, you’re not getting privatization of state holdings and you’re not getting competition in some sectors.”
Norway struck oil in the North Sea 40 years ago, making the country the world’s second-richest nation per capita after Luxembourg, with a 2008 budget surplus of about 20 percent of gross domestic product. The wealth has posed problems for successive governments in juggling demands for spending and tax cuts, while keeping the economy from overheating.
Milder Recession
Norway emerged from a recession last quarter after a milder slump than its Nordic neighbors, spurred by investments in its oil industry and stimulus measures. The government proposed spending 130 billion kroner ($22 billion) on the stimulus package this year, the biggest in more than three decades.
The so-called mainland economy, which excludes oil and gas, will grow 2.5 percent next year after shrinking 1.5 percent this year, the central bank forecasts. The bank cut interest rates to a record 1.25 percent and signaled in August that rates may rise earlier than previously predicted as a recovery starts.
The result is “a sign that people think that the government has handled the crisis well”, said Erik Bruce, senior economist at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo. “It shows that people appreciate the work the government has done.”
Tax Cuts
The Conservative Party and Progress Party both advocated tax cuts while also promising to improve education and elderly care. The Progress Party, led by Siv Jensen, posted its best result since it was formed as an anti-tax movement in 1973, cementing its spot as the largest opposition party.
The Conservatives, lead by Erna Solberg, 48, gained the most even as she failed in her bid to become the first female premier in 13 years.
Stoltenberg first became premier in 2000 after a vote of no-confidence ousted a Christian Democrat-led government. One year later his party had its worst election since 1924.
He returned in 2005 with the current coalition, Norway’s first majority government in 20 years. They ousted a bloc of Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals by vowing to spend more on health and education and rolling back some of the 23.5 billion kroner in tax cuts in the prior four years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Josiane Kremer in Oslo at Jkremer4@bloomberg.net .
Find out more about Bloomberg for iPhone: http://bbiphone.bloomberg.com/iphone
Norway’s Premier Wins Re-Election, First in 16 Years
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Norwegian Labor Party Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg became the first leader in 16 years to win re-election after steering the Nordic nation out of a recession and vowing to improve welfare.
Labor and its partners, the Socialist Left and the Center Party, secured 86 seats out of 169 seats in parliament, after 99.9 percent of the votes were counted. The opposition, fronted by the Progress Party and Conservative Party, won 83 mandates.
Stoltenberg, 50, the first premier re-elected since his mentor Gro Harlem Brundtland won a second term in 1993, spent a record of Norway’s $430 billion petroleum wealth this year to revive the economy and keep unemployment at the lowest in Europe. Voters rejected the oppositions’ calls for tax cuts.
“It looks like the sitting government will be re- elected,” said Johannes Bergh, a political scientist at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo. “It’s quite unusual and a great victory for the Labor Party.”
Labor won 64 seats, up from 61 in 2005. The Socialist Left fell 4 seats to 11 and the Center Party kept its 11 mandates. The Progress Party gained 3 to 41 seats and the Conservatives surged 7 to 30 seats. The Liberals dropped 8 to 2 seats and the Christian Democrats declined 1 to 10 seats.
“We’re three parties who have worked together for four years, so we have a lot of issues in common,” Stoltenberg said in a televised interview yesterday. “I’m confident we will find common solutions.”
Social Benefits
Stoltenberg has promised to keep taxes stable and spend more money on elderly care as the party strives for full employment. Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen’s Socialist Left vowed to stop an expansion of oil and gas exploration in environmentally sensitive areas in northern Norway and the Center Party promised to spend more on roads and railways.
“It’s more about what you don’t get than what you get,” Stein Bruun, chief economist at SEB Enskilda ASA in Oslo, said in an interview today. “You’re not getting lower taxes, you’re not getting privatization of state holdings and you’re not getting competition in some sectors.”
Norway struck oil in the North Sea 40 years ago, making the country the world’s second-richest nation per capita after Luxembourg, with a 2008 budget surplus of about 20 percent of gross domestic product. The wealth has posed problems for successive governments in juggling demands for spending and tax cuts, while keeping the economy from overheating.
Milder Recession
Norway emerged from a recession last quarter after a milder slump than its Nordic neighbors, spurred by investments in its oil industry and stimulus measures. The government proposed spending 130 billion kroner ($22 billion) on the stimulus package this year, the biggest in more than three decades.
The so-called mainland economy, which excludes oil and gas, will grow 2.5 percent next year after shrinking 1.5 percent this year, the central bank forecasts. The bank cut interest rates to a record 1.25 percent and signaled in August that rates may rise earlier than previously predicted as a recovery starts.
The result is “a sign that people think that the government has handled the crisis well”, said Erik Bruce, senior economist at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo. “It shows that people appreciate the work the government has done.”
Tax Cuts
The Conservative Party and Progress Party both advocated tax cuts while also promising to improve education and elderly care. The Progress Party, led by Siv Jensen, posted its best result since it was formed as an anti-tax movement in 1973, cementing its spot as the largest opposition party.
The Conservatives, lead by Erna Solberg, 48, gained the most even as she failed in her bid to become the first female premier in 13 years.
Stoltenberg first became premier in 2000 after a vote of no-confidence ousted a Christian Democrat-led government. One year later his party had its worst election since 1924.
He returned in 2005 with the current coalition, Norway’s first majority government in 20 years. They ousted a bloc of Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals by vowing to spend more on health and education and rolling back some of the 23.5 billion kroner in tax cuts in the prior four years.
To contact the reporter on this story: Josiane Kremer in Oslo at Jkremer4@bloomberg.net .
Find out more about Bloomberg for iPhone: http://bbiphone.bloomberg.com/iphone
The sycophant's lament. LOL!!! Whoeee!!!
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