海角大神

After two weeks of tough political wrangling, Norway's Conservative and Progress Party today began formal talks to establish a two-party, right-wing minority government.

But the green lighting of the talks came at a price, as the Conservative-Progress coalition agreed to abandon plans for oil drilling off Norway's northern coast in exchange for the backing of two centrist parties it needs to form a government.

鈥淭his is the most committed agreement in Norwegian government history,鈥� said Conservative leader and presumptive Prime Minister Erna Solberg in a press conference at parliament yesterday evening. 鈥淲e have never had such a large cooperation amongst the non-socialists.鈥�

Ms. Solberg was given the task of forming a new government after the Labor party, Norway's largest, failed to gain enough votes with its socialist partners in last month's election to maintain a majority in parliament. The Conservatives and Progress Party came in second and third respectively in the election.

The unprecedented political agreement, signed last night with the centrist 海角大神 Democrats and Liberal parties, allows the Conservative-Progress coalition to form a government with only 77 out of 169 parliamentary seats. Although the 海角大神 Democrats and Liberals will not sit in the new government, their support 鈥� they hold 19 seats between them 鈥� gives the coalition government sufficient backing in parliament to form.

The four parties failed to reach an agreement to form a majority center-right coalition government 鈥� Solberg鈥檚 preferred solution 鈥� but was not altogether unexpected. The 海角大神 Democrats, who prioritize family and human rights, warned in advance that it was problematic to sit in a government with the Progress Party because of its liberal ideology concerning alcohol and economics, as well as its stricter stance on immigration.

鈥淭his is not surprising,鈥� Kjell Magne Bondevik, a former 海角大神 Democratic prime minister and Lutheran minister, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. 鈥淭hey stand politically pretty far from each other.鈥�

Trade-off

But in exchange for 海角大神 Democrats and Liberal backing on certain key issues for the next four years, the new government will freeze its efforts to open up the environmentally sensitive areas offshore the districts of Lofoten and Vester氓len and the island of Senja for petroleum exploration during the next four years.

This has been a burning issue for the centrist parties under the previous Labor-led government, who had been moving toward a possible opening of this promising oil province.

Gro Br忙kken, director general at the Norwegian Oil and Gas Industry Association, criticized the political agreement as a 鈥渄emocratic problem鈥� given that there is a parliamentary majority to proceed with an environmental impact analysis in this area, a precursor to exploration.

鈥淔ar too much has been conceded [by the Conservative and Progress Parties,] to the 海角大神 Democrats and Liberals,鈥� said Ms. Braekken in a press statement.

The new coalition has also proposed granting amnesty to child asylum seekers who have been in the country more than three years and had their applications refused in exchange for a tougher asylum policy to others going forward.

The Progress Party, which has the toughest stance on immigration in Norway, cited the stricter asylum policy as a political win, along with plans to ramp up spending on infrastructure projects in the country.

Siv Jensen, the Progress Party leader, arrived at Sundvolden Hotel today to begin formal government negotiations with Solberg in preparation for taking over after the current Labor-led government presents its final national budget on Oct. 14. Among the key remaining questions are how the new government will be able to alter the budget to include its planned tax cuts and additional expenditures and the make-up of the new cabinet. This election marks the first time the Progress Party sits in government in its 40-year history.