Call for Christian Democrat life raft for Labour government (Nettavisen)

According to Labour chairman Thorbjørn Jagland, the most natural thing would be for the Christian Democrats to act as a life raft for the current Labour government after the election, even if the Labour Party should do badly on polling day. "That is what would be most natural for the Christian Democrats, if you look at issues like welfare, international solidarity, etc," said Mr Jagland in an interview with NRK. However, the Christian Democrats’ parliamentary leader, Kjell Magne Bondevik, does not intend to help Labour hang on to power. "No, they cannot bank on a Christian Democratic rescue mission. If the Labour Party does as badly in the election as most of the opinion polls have indicated, it would be unnatural if they continued in government. Anyway, the Christian Democratic Party has set its sights on a change of government," said Mr Bondevik.

Secret Christian Democrat plan to make Bondevik PM (Dagbladet/Saturday)

The Christian Democrats could agree to start coalition negotiations with the Conservatives on election night itself, and the door has definitively been slammed shut on discussions with the Labour Party. Dagbladet does not know the contents of the Christian Democrats’ secret plan, but the indications point to a situation where the Christian Democrats hold the key to what kind of government Norway will have after Monday’s general election. The picture is quite different to that presented to the voters, quite different to that which the Centre Party believes in, and not least, the Christian Democrats’ plan is not what the Labour Party’s strategists envisage.

Labour intends to destroy the centre alliance (Dagsavisen/Sunday)

Even if Labour loses the election, Jens Stoltenberg will not resign before he is compelled to by a vote of no confidence. He intends to force Kjell Magne Bondevik to choose the Conservatives as a partner. Labour strategists believe the Government’s days are numbered if the Christian Democrats have the casting vote in the Storting. The only hope for survival is if the Labour Party, Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party retain their current majority. In that case, the Government will attempt to stay in office, even though the election proves to be a defeat for Jens Stoltenberg.

Private sector fears chaos (Dagens Næringsliv)

Business leaders and investors fear total chaos when the votes cast in today’s general election have been counted. A telephone poll Dagens Næringsliv has carried out among 14 of the country’s top executives shows that a clear majority are dreading a result where no clear government alternatives are obvious. Torger Reve, vice-chancellor of the Norwegian School of Management (BI), is one of those who fear total chaos when a new government is to be formed. "I am worried that we will have a situation where none of the alternatives has a majority, and that there is chaos surrounding the formation of the next government. I am even more concerned by the prospect of a small party having the casting vote on policy issues. That whaler for example, (the Coastal Party’s Steinar Bastesen, ed. note)," said Mr Reve.

Education and health will decide the election (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Chaos reigns two days before the century’s first general election. But the parties with the greatest credibility on education and health policy could win the election on Monday. The voters have grown tired of the unceasing focus on taxes, according to an opinion poll by AC Nielsen. Around 60 per cent of the voters feel that education and health are the most important issues. Education policy and the state of the country’s schools was the most important question before the election campaign started. And it has risen back to the top of the agenda three day’s ahead of the election.

NHO rejects national wage negotiations (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

Norway could face chaos next spring. The Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) does not want next year’s wage negotiations to be carried out at national level with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). The NHO’s national committee has voted unanimously to discontinue the traditional practice of national wage negotiations between itself and the LO, because the so-called "solidarity alternative" has resulted in wage levels which are too high. However, to avoid excessive conflict, the NHO is planning to introduce its new line over several years. Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the LO, has said it is difficult to imagine any cooperation on wages with a Conservative government that is proposing measures which attack established employee benefits.

NOK 250 million in newspaper subsidies (Aftenposten/Saturday)

The Government is planning to raise the amount it grants in subsidies to newspapers next year by NOK 70 million to a record-breaking NOK 250 million. The Government has included plans for several changes in the way the newspaper subsidies are allocated in its forthcoming media report, which will be presented to the Storting after the election. The report will confirm the newspapers’ exemption from VAT for the coming five-year period. In addition the authorities’ will no longer be required to place their advertisements in all the country’s newspapers. This change will have a particularly strong impact on so-called number-two newspapers, ie newspapers with the second largest circulation in a particular district.

NOK 14 billion more expensive to run Norway Ltd (Aftenposten)

Public expenditure is growing by the billion each and every month, and the politicians are doing nothing at all about it. At the same time, the parties are squabbling about how much of the country’s oil revenues should be spent. So far this year public expenditure has been rising by NOK 42 million every day. Previous governments have described the increase in public expenditure as a time bomb waiting to blow up the welfare state, but the issue has hardly been raised during the election campaign. "The worrying increase in consumption has been completely drowned in the debate over direct and indirect taxation. No politician wants to make cuts. It is much easier to cover the costs from the profits. However, the result is that today’s young politicians will have to make cuts in a few years’ time," said Eva Kristin Hansen, leader of the Labour Party’s youth wing, AUF.

Investors lose a packet as Telenor shares tumble (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

Yesterday Telenor’s share price dropped below the magic NOK 30 figure. Foreign investors are abandoning the company, and small private investors have lost a packet. Small investors have lost around NOK 90 million in under a year. Since Telenor was listed on 4 December last year, the stock market valuation of the company has fallen by NOK 23 billion.

High price of Government deal with unions (Aftenposten/Sunday)

The Government is to pay NOK 30 million in extra wages to 59 union representatives to secure the modernization of the public sector. The increase has arisen in the past few months following negotiations with the unions. "This is an example of the Government allowing itself to be squeezed," said the Conservatives’ Per-Kristian Foss. "This is a necessary measure to enable us to tackle the challenges linked to modernization," said a union leader.

Worth Noting

• Kjell Mange Bondevik can look with satisfaction on his success as a prime ministerial candidate. In the latest poll from Nationen on prime ministerial preferences, 34.1 per cent of the voters back Mr Bondevik. This is as much as Jens Stoltenberg and Jan Petersen have combined. (Nationen/Saturday)
• A downturn of historic proportions for Labour will not stop the party’s MPs. According to VG’s telephone poll of a large number of Labour Party MPs, they believe the Labour Party should hold on to power, even if the Conservatives do become the largest party in the Storting.. (Verdens Gang/Sunday)
• Most voters oppose a scheme where employees lose a day’s pay if they take sick leave. Almost a third feel it is right to introduce a one-day waiting period, according to an opinion poll Sentio/Norsk Statistikk has carried out on behalf of Nationen. (Nationen)
• Norwegian environmental organizations have reacted angrily to the fact that the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) has given the go-ahead for the construction of the proposed gas-fired power station at Skogn in Trøndelag county. The environmental organizations have accused the SFT of no longer acting as an expert authority. (Klassekampen/Saturday)
• Norwegian employees receive fringe benefits to the tune of NOK 85 billion. But the majority of employees have no idea what benefits they receive or how much they are worth. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The national railway company, NSB, has hit an all time low in MMI’s opinion poll in which people were asked to rate the country’s largest companies. Two out of three Norwegians have a bad impression of NSB. Chief executive Einar Enger has dropped from top to bottom in this survey after he switched from the dairy company, Tine, to NSB. Mr Enger says that within five years the state-owned transport company will be among the top-scoring companies. (Aftenposten)
• The Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression (NFY) is to close down its operations. The NFY was originally set up in the wake of the Salman Rushdie affair, and has since then worked to be "a source of reliable, updated documentation and information on the conditions for freedom of expression and free debate". Through a process of discussion the organization’s members have concluded that the NFY is no longer the most effective or appropriate way to work for the promotion of freedom of expression. (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

If we are to believe the opinion polls, we could experience a political earthquake when all the votes have been counted tonight. Yesterday’s polls, carried out after the televised party leader debate on Friday, continue to indicate that large numbers of voters will be voting for a different party than they have previously done. This is no bad thing. At the same time it is difficult to see any clear protest in the election, apart from the fact that a great many voters seem to have lost faith in the Labour Party. The election result itself may be difficult to interpret. In his memoirs the American historian, Arthur Schlesinger Jr, writes that a society which eliminates the struggle over which course to choose and therefore the struggle for power could end up with a feeling of self-satisfaction which is neither liberal nor stable. Democracy is a form of government which is based on the struggle for power and the struggle to choose the way ahead. So even though it is a population of contented citizens who have difficulty seeing any clear political alternatives which is casting its vote today, it is no excuse for staying at home.