Dead heat between Labour and Conservatives (Aftenposten)

Support for the Labour Party has risen by 3.2 percentage points, while the Conservatives have lost 3.8 percentage points in the latest poll by market researchers, Opinion. The poll was concluded at 8 pm last night. The Conservatives now have the backing of 26.3 per cent of the voters, while the Labour Party ended the day on 25.9 per cent. The results indicate a glimmer of hope for the Labour Party, a clear warning to the Conservatives that they may have peaked too early, a reprieve for the Centre Party, which now looks unlikely to be swept out of the Storting altogether, and a significant boost to the Liberals’ chances of clambering over the minimum threshold for a parliamentary seat. These are just some of the messages the voters have now given the parties, according to Aftenposten’s leader writer.

Labour hot on Conservative heels (Dagbladet)

Jens Stoltenberg has managed to pull alongside Jan Petersen in MMI’s latest poll for Dagbladet and NRK. At the same time the voters are more open than ever before. People have taken flight into the ranks of the ‘don’t knows’, which for the first time is the largest grouping in the electorate. This could pose a serious threat to the Conservatives. At the moment the campaign’s two most bitter enemies are running neck and neck. Following Mr Stoltenberg’s fierce attacks on the Conservatives’ welfare policies in recent weeks, the Labour Party has climbed back up to 26.4 per cent, while Jan Petersen and the Conservatives have seen their support fall by 4.3 percentage points to 26.6.

Bondevik keeps Conservatives at arms length (Bergensavisen/Dagsavisen)

Kjell Magne Bondevik and his centre alliance partners pushed Jan Petersen’s courtship several arms length away yesterday when they announced the political platform on which they intend to build a post-election centre alliance government. While the Conservatives are more than willing to let Kjell Magne Bondevik take the helm in a coalition government consisting of the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals, the popular prime ministerial candidate spent most of his time yesterday trying to distance himself from Jan Petersen, writes Bergensavisen.

Centre still holding together (Nationen)

The three centre alliance parties are refusing to admit defeat. Yesterday the partners published a joint declaration detailing the political basis on which they plan to build a post-election coalition government. The alliance is focusing on values rather than tax issues. The declaration contained few surprises and not many specific policies. It was very similar to the one the three partners issued ahead of the last general election and was strongly value-oriented. The declaration clearly underlines the distance between the centre alliance parties and the Conservatives on a number of issues, and focuses on quite different values than the issue of tax cuts.

New promises from the centre alliance (Vårt Land)

The centre alliance has announced three new promises compared with its last election campaign. If the thee centre alliance parties form a government they will ensure cheaper nursery care, more money to improve school buildings and facilities, and the abolition of parental payments for materials and extra activities in primary and secondary schools. The centre alliance shares all three promises with the Labour Party. Apart from a joint website and these promises, the declaration presented by the three centre alliance parties in Bergen yesterday differs only marginally from the Voksenåsen Declaration which they agreed on before forming a government in 1997.

Norwegian aid cut would be incomprehensible to rest of the world (Vårt Land)

"If Jan Petersen decides to make a significant cut in Norwegian development assistance, he will have to face the consequences. Such a move would quite simply not be understood by the international community," said State Secretary at the Foreign Ministry, Raymond Johansen. Mr Johansen made his comments during the monthly briefing which the Foreign Ministry holds to inform the press of Norway’s activities in the UN Security Council. Fellow State Secretary, Espen Barth Eide, followed up with an attack on the ironical way many politicians speak about Norway’s importance on the world stage.

Storebrand shares buoyed up by Sampo bid (Dagens Næringsliv)

Only the bids from Sampo and Den norske Bank (DnB) are holding Storebrand’s share price afloat. Financial analyst Torbjørn Martinsen of First Securities believes Storebrand’s market value would be around 30 per cent lower without the current bids. Storebrand is struggling hard. Yesterday, chief executive Idar Kreutzer was forced to announce a three-figure deficit for the first-half. If it had not been for Sampo’s bid and the fact that DnB has indicated a share swap deal if a merger with them goes ahead, it is not improbable that Storebrand’s shares would have fallen to under NOK 50.

Sure of economic downturn ahead (Dagens Næringsliv)

Øystein Drøm, chief economist of DnB Markets, John Rogne, chief economist of the Norwegian Trade Council, and Gjensidige Nor Markets’ chief analyst, Øystein Stephansen, are unanimous in their view that the global economic downturn has reached Norway, and that its effects will be lasting. The Norwegian Trade Council says that Norwegian exporters are entering a recession. The June figures show that traditional manufacturing exports are stagnating. Norwegian exports are now feeling the effects of the global economic downturn, according to the experts.

Worth Noting

• The other centre alliance parties must be tolerant of Kjell Magne Bondevik’s difficult situation, according to election expert Frank Aarebrot, who believes the centre alliance’s joint declaration was a wise move. In this way the three parties show that they are standing together, he said. (Nationen)
• "It is inspiring to see the Labour Party making progress. This underpins several other indicators showing that the tide is turning and that the Labour Party is now getting its message very clearly across to the voters. The message is that there are two important values – creating and sharing," said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. (Aftenposten)
• 60 per cent of all Conservative voters think that Jan Petersen is the best prime ministerial candidate. However, among the electorate as a whole Kjell Magne Bondevik wins by a knockout over his rivals. (Dagsavisen)
• The Labour Party is planning to spend NOK 15 billion on school improvements. Education Minister Trond Giske will use interest-free loans to carry out the biggest schools renovation programme of all time. (Dagbladet)
• Premiums for occupational injury insurance have risen by 64 per cent over the past three years. Companies which have improved their working environments have been hit by just as large increases as the laggards. (Nationen)
• Parents should band together and refuse to pay if local authorities increase nursery fees, says Laila Brith Josefsen of the Norwegian Union of Teachers.
• The owners of the country’s salmon rivers are planning to increase the fishing licence fee and attract wealthy foreign anglers. This plan could double today’s revenues. (Aftenposten)
• Despite the forthcoming royal wedding, with attendant pomp and circumstance, Norwegians’ attitude to the monarchy remains almost unchanged, according to a poll carried out by MMI on behalf of Dagbladet. For the first time this year, support for the monarchy has crept over the 60 per cent mark. (Dagbladet)
• Construction of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim has just been officially completed – around 930 years after it was begun, and 132 years after restoration work was initiated. (NTB)

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

The election campaign has only just got underway, but it is about to get stuck in a familiar rut. Party leaders toss out calculation after calculation – all of them in the million and billion class – while simultaneously dusting off an old political trick; squabbling over who voted for or against what during the last parliamentary term. The result is often a political mishmash, a free-for-all which appears more confusing than enlightening for the many thousands of voters who sit down each evening to watch the political debates on their television sets.