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Norway held nationwide municipal and county elections today.
The outer "fringe" parties, the government coalition party Socialist Left and the "bad boy" nationalist/libertarian Party of Progress were the big losers, with about a third of their voter bloc abandoning them this time.
The great winner was the Conservatives, with a near 50% increase in their voter support (to nationwide 28%), while the Labour Party consolidated their position with a couple of percentage points.
While our dreadful tragedy on 22/7 has clearly underlined Norwegians' commitment to the tried&true alternatives of Labour vs. Conservatives, the rather modest increase Labour experienced is somwhat surprising since THEY were the prime focus of hatred for Breivik for his attacks on the government quarter and the massacre of Labour party youths on Utøya.
"Sympathy" voter turnout has been less than many supposed.
On the other hand, the Party of Progress' catastrophic defeat is rather more understandable by emotional "guilt-by-association" issues, since Breivik was a member there in the early 2000's, and that they share much of the skepticicism (but not hatred) of immigration as he had.
The Socialist Left has generally been seen as having wh*red for their participation in responsible government, abandoning many of their ideological issues in order to stay in power. The long time leader of the party, Kristin Halvorsen, has announced her resignation as a result of weariness (in direct contradiction to her statements to the media just a few hours earlier..)
The outer "fringe" parties, the government coalition party Socialist Left and the "bad boy" nationalist/libertarian Party of Progress were the big losers, with about a third of their voter bloc abandoning them this time.
The great winner was the Conservatives, with a near 50% increase in their voter support (to nationwide 28%), while the Labour Party consolidated their position with a couple of percentage points.
While our dreadful tragedy on 22/7 has clearly underlined Norwegians' commitment to the tried&true alternatives of Labour vs. Conservatives, the rather modest increase Labour experienced is somwhat surprising since THEY were the prime focus of hatred for Breivik for his attacks on the government quarter and the massacre of Labour party youths on Utøya.
"Sympathy" voter turnout has been less than many supposed.
On the other hand, the Party of Progress' catastrophic defeat is rather more understandable by emotional "guilt-by-association" issues, since Breivik was a member there in the early 2000's, and that they share much of the skepticicism (but not hatred) of immigration as he had.
The Socialist Left has generally been seen as having wh*red for their participation in responsible government, abandoning many of their ideological issues in order to stay in power. The long time leader of the party, Kristin Halvorsen, has announced her resignation as a result of weariness (in direct contradiction to her statements to the media just a few hours earlier..)