Norway’s leftwing opposition wins general election

Norway's left-wing opposition headed by Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Store won Sept. 13's general election after a campaign dominated by questions about the future of the key oil industry in Western Europe's largest producer.

The left-wing unseated a center-right coalition headed by Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg since 2013.

"We waited, we hoped, and we have worked so hard, and now we can finally say it: We did it!," Store, in all likelihood the next prime minister, told cheering supporters after Solberg conceded defeat.

The five left-wing opposition parties were projected to win 100 of the 169 seats in parliament.

Labour was even expected to win an absolute majority with its preferred allies, the Centre Party and the Socialist Left, preliminary results showed with more than 95 percent of votes counted.

That eliminated concerns about having to rely on the support of two other opposition parties, the Greens and the communist Red Party.

"Norway has sent a clear signal: the election shows that the Norwegian people want a fairer society," said the 61-year-old millionaire who campaigned against social inequalities.

The five countries in the Nordic region - a bastion of social democracy - will thus all be governed by left-wing governments soon.

"The Conservative government's work is finished for this time around," Solberg told supporters.

"I want to congratulate Jonas Gahr Store, who now seems to have a clear majority for a change of government," said the 60-year-old Solberg who has steered the country through multiple crises, including migration, dropping oil prices and the Covid pandemic over the past eight years.

The Greens had said they would only support a left-wing government if...