Norwegians prepare to vote in neck-and-neck election

Record ID: 909445

  • Title: Norwegians prepare to vote in neck-and-neck election
  • Date: 7th September 2017
  • Summary: OSLO, NORWAY (SEPTEMBER 6, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ROYAL PALACE WITH STREET LINED WITH ELECTION BANNERS PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT BUILDING WATCHING NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER ERNA SOLBERG AND LABOUR PARTY LEADER JONAS GAHR STOERE TAKING PART IN DEBATE VARIOUS OF SOLBERG AND STOERE DEBATING STOERE LEAVING SOLBERG LEAVING POLITICAL SCIENTIST JOHANNES BERGH WALKING PAST (SOUNDBITE) (English) POLITICAL SCIENTIST, JOHANNES BERGH, SAYING: "I think the main concerns of Norwegians generally are the sort of welfare benefits that the Norwegian government provides its citizens so there's always talk in Norwegian politics about schools, about health care, about education and care for the elderly. So those types of issues tend to dominate." EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT BUILDING STATUE OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT NORWEGIAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) POLITICAL SCIENTIST, JOHANNES BERGH, SAYING: "Forming a governing coalition after the election is going to be difficult and there's a lot of talk about who should cooperate with whom and who should go into a coalition with whom and that has actually been very much of an issue." PARLIAMENT ENTRANCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) POLITICAL SCIENTIST, JOHANNES BERGH, SAYING: "It is so close and you have one poll one day saying it's going to be a centre right coalition and then another poll the next day saying it's going to be a centre left coalition, so it's very close and we're just going to have to wait and see." PEOPLE WALKING PAST ELECTION BOOTHS ELECTION POSTER SAYING (Norwegian): "Never FRP (Progress Party) in government" WOMAN STANDING WITH "VENSTRE" (LIBERAL PEOPLE'S PARTY) PARTY UMBRELLA CAMPAIGN WORKER TALKING TO PASSER-BY MAN HANDING OUT ELECTION LEAFLETS (SOUNDBITE) (English) 39-YEAR-OLD TEACHER, JAN HELGE VEIDAL, 39, SAYING: "But I think that if you ask people in the streets, they are concerned about local things like the local hospital, the kindergarten, the school, the environment, climate issues, things like that. But in the media, I have to say, they focus too much about attacks, economy and on whether the (next) prime minister will be Jonas Gahr Stoere or Erna Solberg." PEOPLE WALKING IN THE STREET WOMAN WITH UMBRELLA PEOPLE'S FEET PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STAIRS AT TRAIN STATION
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2017 10:44
  • Keywords: Norway election Erna Solberg Jonas Gahr Stoere campaign voting
  • Location: OSLO, NORWAY
  • City: OSLO, NORWAY
  • Country: Norway
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016XLJB5Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Norwegian political parties intensified their parliamentary election campaign on Thursday (September 7) with Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Labour leader Jonas Gahr Stoere taking part in a debate outside the parliament building in Oslo.
    Opinion polls show a neck-and-neck race between Solberg's center-right block and center-left parties headed by Stoere ahead of Monday (September 11) election.
    For much of the year, Labour and its center-left allies were ahead in polls and projected to replace Solberg's minority coalition. But support for the opposition has slipped as the economy recovered.
    With only a few days left to go, the two main candidates for the prime minister's job have been out campaigning in a race that remains too close to call, and even small changes in support for some of the nine parties on the left and right could be decisive.
    While Solberg has pledged to cut income taxes to boost growth and jobs creation, Stoere seeks to hike taxes on high-earners and the wealthy to better fund Norway's extensive welfare state.
    Political scientist Johannes Bergh said that welfare issues, such as education and health care, have taken the centre stage in Norwegian election campaigns in the past.
    Should neither bloc secure a majority, the smaller Green party - which pledges to stop oil exploration and phase out production within 15 years - could become kingmakers.
    Overall, the Nordic nation faces at least ten potential alternatives for minority or majority coalition governments and the outcome of the vote is particularly hard to predict, pollsters say.
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