Big job, little support (Aftenposten)

Negotiations to form a coalition between the Christian Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals broke down last night. There is a strong possibility that Jan Petersen will be the country’s next prime minister. However, among the Conservatives’ top echelons there is little enthusiasm for forming a purely Conservative government, since it would have little support in the Storting and could expect to be voted down on a large number of issues by a political opposition made up of the Christian Democrats, Centre Party, Labour Party and Socialist Left Party. There would always be a significant danger of being unseated. Kjell Magne Bondevik and Lars Sponheim said yesterday that they feel a purely Conservative government is now the most probable solution, even though they themselves do not wish to commit themselves to supporting such a project. "We will cooperate with such a government on a case by case basis," said Mr Bondevik yesterday.

Now it is Petersen’s turn (Dagsavisen)

Chaos reigns in the Storting following last night’s breakdown of negotiations to form a coalition government. Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen will now probably attempt to form a purely Conservative government. This could mean the Labour Party will continue in office despite its bitter election defeat. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg yesterday refused to comment on the dramatic situation. The Progress Party sees an opportunity to take centre stage and create problems for the Conservatives. According to Carl I. Hagen, the Labour Party does not need to resign before the composition of an alternative government has been announced.

Tough times for Jan Petersen (Dagsavisen)

The Conservatives, led by Jan Petersen, were completely wrong in their reading of the Christian Democrats and the Liberals during their coalition negotiations. As a result the Conservatives will have to shoulder the burden of governing alone – at the mercy of bloodthirsty centrist parties. After over a week of talking the two centre parties were fed up of the Conservatives’ unwillingness to meet them half-way. "A picture has emerged of a total lack of balance between the Conservatives and the centre parties. The picture indicated that we would be going into a government completely dominated by the Conservatives," said Kjell Magne Bondevik at a press conference last night. He made it clear that the Christian Democrats will support moves to topple the Stoltenberg government and help a Conservative government into office. But that is all the help Jan Petersen and his team can expect from that quarter. The Conservatives’ inexperienced negotiating team asked too high a price and came off worse in their meeting with Kjell Magne Bondevik, who has experience of six previous rounds of exploratory talks and negotiations to form various coalition governments.

PM: Correct of Government to stay in office (Dagbladet)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said yesterday’s breakdown of talks between the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals shows that it was correct of his government to stay in office, despite Labour’s election defeat. "Since the election I have been working on the basis that it is correct for the Government to carry on, since there has been no clear majority in favour of a new government, and because the Labour Party has a larger number of seats than the other publicly announced government alternatives. The breakdown of talks between the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals shows that this is still the case," said Mr Stoltenberg yesterday.

Fight to prevent Røkke taking control (Aftenposten)

Kjell Inge Røkke is demanding to be given a controlling stake in Kværner before he is willing to participate in any rescue mission, according to centrally placed sources Aftenposten has spoken to. But there is little evidence that the other shareholders plan to give in to Mr Røkke’s demands. Last night Kværner’s board of directors were working on a rescue package which in all probability does not include Mr Røkke at all. There have been frequent contacts with Den norske Bank (DnB), while communication with Mr Røkke’s Aker group has been minimal.

Closer to a solution (NTB)

After yet another night of intense negotiations, a solution for embattled Kværner seems to be getting closer. There are strong indications that Kværner’s board of directors will make a decisive move before the Oslo Stock Exchange opens for business on Wednesday. Trade and Industry Minister Grete Knudsen was heavily involved in last night’s negotiations, almost ordering chairman Harald Arnkværn to contact Kjell Inge Røkke and find a solution to the crisis. Ms Knudsen had held separate meetings with the Kværner board and Mr Røkke, before drawing her conclusions. "The ability and the private capital exist to save Kværner. Out of consideration for an important industrial concern and its many skilled employees, the parties should be able to find a solution," said Ms Knudsen at around 2 o’clock on Wednesday morning, before disappearing into her office to get Mr Arnkværn on the phone. Two and a half hours later Mr Røkke arrived unexpectedly for a meeting with Kværner’s board of directors, and confirmed that he had been invited to do so by Mr Arnkværn following his conversation with Ms Knudsen. The current negotiations between the banks and the shareholders are aimed at putting together a share issue to raise in the region of NOK 1.5-2 billion. Because of the crisis at the company, Kværner’s shares remain suspended from the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Worth Noting

• The Foreign Ministry has awarded the ECON Centre for Economic Analysis a NOK 6 million contract to supply an analysis of businesses’ corporate social responsibility – without offering the contract to public tender. The Foreign Ministry admits it broke the rules. ECON’s Leiv Lunde was State Secretary in the Bondevik government, and is the man behind the report to the Storting in which this analysis was originally proposed. (Aftenposten)
• In next year’s national budget the Labour government is proposing to increase development assistance to poor countries by NOK 1.2 billion. Including this increase, Norway’s total spending on development aid to developing countries will amount to NOK 13.5 billion. This brings aid as a proportion of GDP to 0.90 per cent, up from 0,89. The Government’s target is to reach 1 per cent of GDP. Last year’s increase in development aid was NOK 1.5 billion. (Aftenposten)
• Norway’s local authorities are a long way off reaching their goal of providing single rooms for all nursing home residents by 2003. Only 94 of the country’s 435 local authorities are now able to provide such a service. (Nationen)
• Norway’s international reputation in all areas must be a responsibility for the Government to follow up. This is the conclusion of a conference on Norway’s reputation organized by the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) and the Norwegian Tourist Board, which took place in Oslo yesterday. (Nationen)
• The uncertainty caused by the terrorist attacks on the USA has led tourists to search for safer holiday destinations. While the tourist industry in large parts of the world is quaking, Norway and Sweden could be among the winners, according to Danish tourist industry researcher, Peter Aderhold. (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

A week of exploratory talks has shown that the gap between the Conservatives and the two centrist parties, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, was too great to establish a fruitful and equal partnership. The Christian Democrats and the Liberals acknowledged this fact last night and broke off negotiations. The parties did come some way towards each other on several important political areas, such as education and taxes. But on the question of who should lead the government, the parties were firmly entrenched in their positions. The Conservatives wanted to put up both the prime minister and the finance minister. In effect this would have created the impression that the Christian Democrats and the Liberals were joining a Conservative dominated government – which neither centrist party could accept. As a consequence the Conservatives must now decide if it is possible to form a purely Conservative government. The breakdown of negotiations came as a surprise, since the Conservatives have been aiming for this coalition partnership throughout the election campaign. The Conservatives have been exiled to the political wilderness since the fall of the Syse government, and therefore had the greatest need to succeed in these negotiations. When the election result spelled the demise of the centre alliance alternative, an opportunity arose which the Conservatives had been dreaming of for years. Yet despite this, the party used brawn rather than brain as its negotiating strategy, and threw away the chance to form a governing coalition which could have lasted until the next election. It can only have been for want of both the will and the ability to succeed.