Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday 

Støre focused on ‘Plan A’ 

Labour leader Jonas Gahr Støre will speak with Centre Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum on Wednesday and has already held talks with Socialist Left Party leader Audun Lysbakken as he looks to put together his dream coalition. 

“Plan A is fixed: A majority government of the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party,” Støre told reporters yesterday. 

READ ALSO: Who is Jonas Gahr Store, Norway’s likely new prime minister?

Despite the three-party coalition being his preferred choice, he has his work cut out to convince the Centre Party, who have maintained they will not form a government that includes the Socialist Left Party, to join the coalition. 

Centre Party split on coalition with Socialist Left Party 

The Centre Party appears to be torn on joining a government with the Socialist Left Party after several MPs and a former party leader said that the party should form a three-party coalition with Labour and the Socialist Left Party. 

In the run-up to the election, the party’s leadership made it clear that its preferred scenario would be a Labour and Centre Party majority government.

However, with this prospect now impossible, the party’s deputy leader Ola Borten Moe has said that Labour and the Centre Party should now instead form a minority government with the Socialist Left as a budget partner rather than a member of government. 

READ ALSO: What foreign residents should know about the Centre Party’s election promises

The two parties disagree on several issues, but the main point of contention is the Centre Party primarily being a party that protects the interests of rural communities while the Socialist Left Party are seen as a party whose policies are focused on urban areas. 

Election result may be the death of the Christian Democratic Party 

Norway’s Christian Democratic Party may be slowly dying out, according to an ex-adviser to former party leader Knut Arild Hareide, Åshlid Mathisen. 

The party fell below the four percent votes threshold in Norway, capping off the party’s worst-ever set of election results. 

For Mathisen, this is a sign the party is on its way out. 

“I have said before that the Christian Democratic Party will die out. I base that on voter demographics. The Christian Democrat’s have chosen to appeal to an ever-shrinking group of voters, namely conservative Christians,” Mathisen told newspaper VG.

1,219 new Covid-19 cases in Norway  

On Tuesday, 1,219 new Covid-19 infections were registered. This is 485 fewer cases than the same day last week. The seven-day average for coronavirus cases in Norway is 1,186. 

READ MORE: Norway past peak of fourth Covid-19 wave, say health chiefs

In Oslo, 329 infections were registered in the last 24 hours. 

Total number of Covid-19 cases in Norway. Source: Norwegian Institute of Public Health.