The left won the parliamentary elections in Norway

The left-wing opposition, led by Labor Jonas Gahr Støre, won the parliamentary elections in Norway on Monday, dominated by the leadership of the country’s oil sector, according to projections that were released after the electoral elections.

The five opposition parties are expected to win 104 of the 169 seats in the Storting, Norway’s unicameral parliament, enough to topple conservative Erna Solberg’s right-wing coalition, according to vote-based projections.

With 88 places currently, Støre’s Labor Party, likely the next Prime Minister, is even on the road to an absolute majority with its favorite allies, the Center Party and the Socialist Left, without needing the other two opposition forces, the environmentalists of MDG and the communists of Rødt.

Støre, a 61-year-old millionaire, campaigned against social inequalities.

“I have a good feeling,” Støre said, voting at a middle school in Oslo on Sunday, as the vote opened the day before in major cities.

A record number of over 1.6 million Norwegians, 42.3% of the electorate, they resorted to early voting.

Oil

The “Red alert for humanity“Issued in early August by the climate experts of the UN (IPCC) placed global warming at the center of the electoral campaign and it forced the country to reflect on the fate of the oil activities which made it immensely rich.

The report encouraged those who, on the left and, to a lesser extent, on the right, they want to get rid of oil.

The WCO calls for an immediate end to all oil exploration and end of oil exploitation by 2035, an ultimatum rejected by Støre, graduated in political science in Paris and was minister to Jens Stoltenberg between 2005 and 2013.

Like the Conservatives, the Labor Party – the other great force in the country – ruled out abandoning oil profits and advocating a gradual withdrawal.

In Norway, the oil sector represents 14% of gross domestic product (GDP), more than 40% of exports and 160,000 direct jobs.

Black gold it has also enabled this country of 5.4 million inhabitants to constitute the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, with nearly 12,000 billion crowns of assets (1,200 billion euros, 1,400 billion dollars).

“The demand for oil is declining. It happens by itself, by the law of the market. It is not a question of decreeing it (…) but of building bridges towards future activities“He told the AFP Labor Party energy chief Espen Barth Eide.

Norwegian conservatives spent eight years in office, record breaking, amid multiple crises in the country (from migrants to falling oil prices, to COVID-19).

“I want a fairer society with opportunities for all, that we strive to get everyone to work. This is the number one priority, ”Støre said on Monday, also calling for a“ just climate policy ”.

“We will take all the time necessary to discuss with the other parties,” he said, a few minutes before the publication of the projections.

Popular Prime Minister Solberg damaged his image by breaking his own social distancing rules during his 60th birthday celebration in March., a misstep which also cost him a heavy fine.

With information from AFP

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