Norway may have new government by January, four months after election

Leaders of the conservative parties in Norway will begin negotiations over the makeup of the new coalition government on January 2nd, according to a report.

Published: 13 December 2017 11:57 CET

Norway may have new government by January, four months after election

L-R: Trine Skei Grande, Siv Jensen and Erna Solberg. File photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB scanpix

Prime Minister Erna Solberg will meet with Siv Jensen, leader of the Progress Party, and Trine Skei Grande of the Liberal (Venstre) Party on the second day of the new year, reports newspaper VG.

Grande gave the go-ahead for her party’s participation in the talks last weekend, enabling a formal schedule for the talks to be put in place, according to the report.

The Christian Democrats (Kristelig Folkeparti) will not be part of the talks, having confirmed following the September 11th election that it would not join the same coalition as the populist Progress Party, citing major policy differences.

The three parties hope that the second Solberg-led government could be formally announced by the third week of the new year, writes VG.

That makes Friday January 19th a likely date for announcement of the new government.

After the 2013 election, Solberg’s Conservative (Høyre) party and the Progress party began their negotiations to form a coalition as early as October 1st, with the government being in place by October 16th.

The process is more complicated four years later, with Solberg working with a smaller overall majority, and a new coalition partner, following the September 11th vote.

The Liberals, who were last included in the government from 2001-2005, hope to be given four minister positions in the new coalition, according to VG’s report.