Norway’s governing Labor Party heading for victory in local election 2 months after massacre

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Norway’s governing Labor Party heading for victory in local election 2 months after massacre
By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, September 12, 4:07 PM

OSLO, Norway — Norway’s ruling Labor Party appeared to be making sizable gains in municipal elections Monday, according to preliminary results, less than two months after a bombing and shooting massacre by a right-wing fanatic killed 77 people.

The country’s national broadcaster, NRK said that based on preliminary results the Labor was leading with 33.1 percent of the votes, which would be the party’s best local election in more than two decades.

The poll comes nearly two months after an anti-Muslim extremist, Anders Behring Breivik, slaughtered 69 people at a Labor Party youth camp and set off a car bomb outside government offices in the capital, which killed another eight people.

The 32-year-old Breivik has confessed to the killings but denies criminal responsibility, saying he’s in a state of war against Norway’s immigration policies, which he largely blames the Labor Party for.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/norway-holds-municipal-elections-2-months-after-bombing-shooting-massacre-that-killed-77/2011/09/12/gIQABePlMK_story.html?wprss=rss_world

[Diclotican]

1. Judi Lynn

Judi Lynn

It was never a suprise that AP, (Arbeider-Partiet, or the labour Party) should manage to get a lot of woters after 22 july, when Breivik murdered so many members of AUF.. But other parties also managed to grasp many voters.. Our conservative Party Høyre managed to get a lot of voters, and have had one of the better elections in the last 30 or so years.. So both the big blocks in Norway, the conservatives and the social-democrats managed well in this local elections.. The other parties, was not managing so wel, and I guess some have to find other things to do the next couple of years...

Diclotican

[unkachuck]

2. 'It...

...was never a suprise that AP, (Arbeider-Partiet, or the labour Party) should manage to get a lot of woters..."

....you must have sane, thinking voters in Norway....if that occurred here in the US, it would have been an automatic landslide for the opposite party....

[Diclotican]

4. unkachuck

unkachuck

Most norwigian is not insane, and we dosen't have at all the same polarized idelogy that exist in the US. We do have our share of "nutters", but for the most part they are part of the fringe, and dosen't have to mutch power anyway.. Most of them are not even able to get into local politic and hold an office.. And defently not to get to national office, and hold an office on a national level..

And it help also, that most norwigians are in agreement of the large lines in politic, we bitch a lot about the smaller details, but the larger lines about how to run the country we more or less are in agreement regardness of what party we might wote for..

But as pointed out.. the conservative Party have also had a landslide in local elections, and have a lot of new seats to fill in local politic. But I doubt that it wil be like in the US anytime soon.. We as the electorate would not accept it I guess..

But it help that we are a small country, with just 4.7 million inhabitates, who also is rather educated and willing to follow local and national politic on a regular basis. Most norwigian are in one way or another also member of a party, even tho it have been going down since the 1970s..

Diclotican

[No Elephants]

3. K & R

[pampango]

5. Norway’s Labor Party wins best local election result in 2 decades; anti-immigrants fall to 3rd

Norway’s ruling Labor Party has won its best local election result in more than two decades, while the Conservatives edged out the anti-immigrant Progressives to become the country’s second largest party.

With 97 percent of the votes counted Tuesday in municipal elections, Labor has 33 percent of the vote while the Conservatives have almost 28 percent. The Progressive Party’s vote fell to 11.8 percent from 18.5 percent in the 2007 election.

The two-day election came seven weeks after an anti-Muslim extremist slaughtered 69 people at a Labor Party youth camp and set off a car bomb outside government offices.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/norways-labor-party-wins-best-local-election-result-in-2-decades-anti-immigrants-fall-to-3rd/2011/09/13/gIQARCusOK_story.html

Great to see the far-right party's vote fall by more than a third from 18.5% to under 12%.

[pampango]

6. Another one: BBC: Norway local elections: 'Breivik party' suffers

The anti-immigrant Progress Party once favoured by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik has lost a third of its vote in local elections in Norway.

The populist, anti-immigrant Progress Party saw its support fall to 11.4% from 17.5% in 2007. Its leader, Siv Jensen, blamed the poor result on national revulsion over the attacks by Mr Breivik, a former member of her party.

The governing Labour Party - targeted by Mr Breivik - made smaller gains. Before the July attacks, it had been expected to lose ground in the vote, but in fact made gains of 2%.

However, it saw its coalition ally the Socialist Left Party (SV) drop from 6% to 4%, compared to the 2007 local election results.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14895052