New governing coalition agreed
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg presented her new cabinet with Progress and Liberal parties
Photo: Gunhild Hjermundrud / NRK
Prime Minister Erna Solberg presented the blue-green government to the public for the first time on Jan. 17. The cabinet is shown here outside the palace in Oslo.
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Norway’s rightwing coalition was confirmed on Jan. 14, more than four months after September’s general elections.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s Conservatives and the populist Progress Party added the center-right Liberal (Venstre) party to the coalition, which remains a minority government that will need the parliamentary support of other parties to ensure it can pass laws.
The government had to make concessions to entice the Liberal Party aboard, notably over the environment, the fur industry, and oil exploitation.
The new cabinet includes five new ministers, and five others have been given new responsibilities or moved to new departments.
Liberal leader Trine Skei Grande was awarded the post of Minister of Culture in the new government.
Her party was awarded three ministerial portfolios in total, including Minister of Climate and Environment (Ola Elvestuen) and Minister for Research and Higher Education (Iselin Nybø).
Progress Party leader Siv Jensen continues as Minister of Finance, while Sylvi Listhaug also retains her post as Minister for Immigration and sees justice and public security added to her portfolio. Meanwhile, integration has been moved from Listhaug to Jan Tore Sanner, who is also education minister.
A new ministerial position for international developmental work has also been created within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That role was given to Nikolai Eivindssøn Astrup of Solberg’s Conservative Party. Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide continues as foreign minister.
“It is a pleasure to be standing here with Siv Jensen and Trine Skei Grande. We are making history by forming a government with three female leaders. But most of all, I am proud to present a strong team with a shared goal,” Solberg said to NRK as she presented the new government to media on Jan. 17.
The full list of changes to the cabinet can be seen at www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/changes-in-the-government/id2586129 (English).
This article originally appeared in the Jan. 26, 2018, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
