Norway heads into climax of ‘election thriller’

OSLO: Norwegians cast their votes yesterday in an election nail-biter that will decide whether “the world’s happiest country” will be run by the outgoing rightwing coalition or the left-wing opposition for the next four years.

Opinion polls have predicted an extraordinarily close race between Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s team and the opposition, led by Labour’s Jonas Gahr Store.

Several small parties could end up as kingmakers in the oil-rich Nordic state.

Everything is “set for the biggest election thriller in many decades”, a political commentator for TV2 television said after a final opinion poll published on Saturday credited the right with the narrowest possible majority, albeit within the margin of error.

In the main cities, polling stations opened on Sunday, the eve of the official voting day. Many voters, more than one million of the 3.76 million registered, cast their ballots early in advance voting. AFP