Norwegians oust government

A Norwegian "Red-Green" alliance led by former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg looked set to oust the right-wing government in an election yesterday after vowing to spend more oil cash on welfare, according to exit polls.

Mr Stoltenberg's centre-left alliance led Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik's Conservative, Christian Democrat and Liberal bloc, and their far-right parliamentary allies, by as much as 90 seats to 79 in the 169-member Parliament in opinion polls.

"We have an historic opportunity to set a new course for Norway," said Kristin Halvorsen, leader of the Socialist Left Party.

But official projections showed a close race, after a contest that became a cliffhanger in the final week following a solid Labour lead in all opinion polls this year. At one point, official projections forecast a government win.

Mr Bondevik's popularity has slipped despite Norway being rated by the United Nations as the best country to live in every year since he took power in 2001. Norway is the third largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia, making its 4.6 million people among the wealthiest in the world.

Labour, which accuses Mr Bondevik of giving the rich too large a share of oil revenues through tax cuts, was last in power under Mr Stoltenberg from 2000-2001. It has dominated Norwegian politics since World War II and was the architect of its welfare state.

Norway has amassed huge savings from the oil that began to flow in the 1970s, setting aside $190 billion so far for future generations, or $41,000 for each Norwegian.

But some Norwegians would like to see the benefits now, and the far-right Progress Party, a parliamentary ally of Mr Bondevik's government, proposes using it to pay for Mediterranean holidays for pensioners.

It also wants tight controls on immigration, in a country with one of the lowest levels of immigrants in Europe.

The Progress Party had its best result, gaining 13 seats to a total of 39 according to official projections which would make it the biggest party on the right. Its leader Carl Hagen said he now had "a new dream, that the Progress Party will be what the Labour party was in the previous century".

Hassan Abdillahi, a 41-year-old of Somali origin, was happy that the centre-left looked like defeating the right and keeping Mr Hagen away from power.

"It's great, I like that very much. They are not racist, they will create more jobs and they are good for the country as a whole," he said.