Norway elections: Right wing ruling alliance gains simple majority in parliament

By
Syed Sibtain Shah

September 12, 2017

Erena Solberg, the sitting prime minister and the head of Horey party, following the results said the alliance’s efficiency has resulted in its victory in the last four years.
 

The right-wing ruling coalition of Norway has won a simple majority as a result of the elections held on Monday.

This victory means that the governing alliance will succeed in re-establishing the government. The results of the parliamentary elections started appearing late last night and continued till Tuesday morning.

The ruling coalition includes the Right wing Parties “Horey” and “FPR”, the Progress Party, and the Liberal Party “Venstre”. Erena Solberg, the sitting prime minister and the head of Horey party, following the results said the alliance’s efficiency has resulted in its victory in the last four years.

Yunus Gahr, who is the leader of the largest opposition party (Labour), acknowledged his failure at a press conference last night. Other opposition parties include the left-wing Socialist Party “SV” and the Centre Party.

According to the latest results, the ruling coalition has secured 89 of the 169 seats in the parliament, while all allies of the opposition parties got 79 slots in the Storting.

Among the several Norwegian-Pakistanis nominated as the candidates of various political parties, the success of Hadia Tajik of the Labour party, Mudassar Hussain Kapoor of the Horey party, and Abid Raja of the Liberal party has been assured.

During the recent elections’ campaign, a large segment of the Norwegian-Pakistani community put forward its demand for the government to soften its family visa regulations. The community expressed its discomfort with the minimum age restriction for the spouse visa, which is set at 24-years.

The ruling alliance, in its previous tenure, added the minimum-age restriction along with the condition of a hefty annual income of the Norwegian spouse for the visa process, which spans over a period of more than 15-months.

With the ruling coalition succeeding in gaining a simple majority in the Parliament, chances of abolishment or softening of the family visa restrictions seem to be bleak in the next four years.