Norway's left-wing coalition set to stay in power

2009-09-15 09:10:51

OSLO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) --

Preliminary results of Monday's election showed that Norway's left-wing ruling coalition has won a slim majority in parliament that would enable it to retain power.

With almost 97 percent of the ballots counted, official results early Tuesday showed the Labor-led coalition would get 85 seats in the 169-seat parliament, enough to continue to stay in power.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg' s Labor Party won 63 seats, becoming the largest political force in parliament.

Stoltenberg is hopefully going to retain his position in the next four years, Norwegian analysts say. Stoltenberg, 50, became prime minister of the current government, made up of the Labor Party and two junior partners, in 2005.

Stoltenberg has set employment as his government's priority in the global recession.

The right-wing opposition Progress Party got 41 seats to become the second largest party in parliament, according to preliminary results.

The coalition would start talks in the next few days on forming a coalition government.

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