2005 Norwegian parliamentary election
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A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, is scheduled for 12 September 2005. All 169 seats will be contested: an increase of four from the previous election.
Background
Before the election, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik led a coalition government consisting of the Conservative Party, Christian People's Party (which supplied the prime minister) and the Liberal Left, with the conditional support of the right-wing Progress Party. Between them, the three main parties of the coalition held 62 seats in the outgoing 165-seat Storting. The Progress Party held an additional 26, giving the four parties a majority when acting together.
Divisions within the coalition led to the temporary withdrawal of support by the Progress Party in November 2004, in response to what they saw as the government's underfunding of hospitals. An agreement was later reached. The government also attracted criticism for its handling of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, in which several Norwegians died, with the prime minister admitting to mistakes in his government's delayed reaction to the disaster.
The question of private schools was controversial in 2005, with the opposition Labour Party, Socialist Left Party and Centre Party rejecting the government's plan to allow schools other than those offering an "alternative education", or those founded on religious beliefs, to become private.
Amidst a decline in the personal popularity of the prime minister, opinion polls in early 2005 indicated a clear lead for the Labour Party. Its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, was prime minister from March 2000 to October 2001, and enjoyed widespread public support in the run-up to the election. Polling suggests that the Labour, Socialist Left and Centre parties could form a 'red–green' coalition, which would command a majority in the Storting.
In June the leader of the Progress Party, Carl I. Hagen, said his party would not support a new coalition if Bondevik re-emerges as the prime minister after the election.
References
- Labor stealing partner's votes. Aftenposten. 24 June 2005.
- Hagen won't back Bondevik. Aftenposten. 20 June 2005.
- Labour Down, Progress Party Surges in Norway. Angus Reid Consultants. 12 June 2005.
- Norway — Red–Green Alliance could get majority. Angus Reid Consultants. Retrieved 5 June 2005.
- Left wing alliance advances despite Labor retreat. Aftenposten. 30 March 2005.
| Preceded by 2001 |
Elections in Norway | Succeeded by 2009 |