Populist nationalist anti-immigration Progress Party surges in Norway election | Eastern NC Now

The snap election for Norway's parliament has resulted in major gains by the populist nationalist anti-immigration right Progress Party, which more than doubled its seats in parliament and emerged as the second largest in parliament.  That will make it either the main opposition party or the largest party in the new government. Exit polls showed that the Progress Party scored heavily with younger voters and was the most popular party among voters under 30.  The Progress Party ran on opposition to illegal immigration, support for lower taxes, support for reducing the bureaucracy, and opposition to joining the European Union.

The Progress Party went into the election with 21 seats and emerged with 47, only 6 seats behind the governing Labor Party.  The traditional Conservative Party was third with 24 seats.  A total of nine parties won seats but only the top three were in double digits.  Overall, the net gain for the three parties on the right was 18 seats, with gains by Progress and the Christian Democrats somewhat offset by losses of the Conservatives.  The gains of the Progress Party mostly came from the Conservative Party and from the Center Party.

Forming a new governing coalition will be difficult given the number of parties involved.   The previous minority government collapsed when the Center Party, which represents rural interests and takes economic nationalist and strong anti-EU positions, abandoned the Labor-led coalition.

Theoretically, a center-right majority coalition could be formed between the Progress Party, the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party, and the Center Party.  A majority center-left coalition is unlikely because it would require the Center Party and the Liberal Party to join with the communist Red Party.  It would also require the pro-farmer Center Party to get in bed with the anti-farmer Green Party.  Unless, the center-right can agree on a coalition arrangement, the result would likely be another unstable minority government led by Labor as the largest single party.  Another minority Labor-led government is what the media expects.

Norway is just the latest example of the strong surge by the populist nationalist anti-immigration right in Europe.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/norways-youth-gravitates-to-the-right-election-shows/