But it seems that Norway is making progress — the Progress Party, that is. According to Fjordman, the Progress Party is a good one, although not as strong as the Danish People’s Party.
Here’s the latest from yesterday’s Aftenposten:
Progress Party ready to rule- - - - - - - - -
After decades of being the noisy underdog in Norwegian politics, the country’s most conservative party is riding a wave of popularity. With the current left-centre government losing even more support, the Progress Party is now hammering out a serious plan to take over after next autumn’s election.
“I’m going to use a lot of time on government plans this summer,” Progress Party leader Siv Jensen told newspaper Adresseavisen on Tuesday. “Strategy needs to be formed, and I need to use the summer to make some preparations.”
Her Progress Party, long the lone voice in the wilderness in Norway’s social welfare state, has been able to boast support from more than 30 percent of the country’s voters for weeks now. Poll after poll has shown the Progress Party gaining voters at the expense of the three government parties that now form the left-center ruling coalition: Labour, the Socialist Left and the Center Party.
The small Center Party has suffered the most, with one recent poll indicating it’s backed by less than 4 percent of the voters. That could even make it ineligible to win representation in Parliament, much less wield government power.
Another recent poll showed that fully 57 percent of Norway’s voters now want a change of government. Only 2 percent of those questioned in a poll reported over the weekend think the current government “is doing a very good job.”
Analysts claim the current Labour-dominated coalition simply hasn’t delivered on campaign promises made in 2005. While oil and tax revenues are higher than ever, the level of government services seems to be declining in the country, and that’s made voters mad. Labour boss Martin Kolberg has admitted that Labour hasn’t communicated its achievements well enough.
All this has made the arch-rival Progress Party realize that government power suddenly seems within its grasp. Jensen is seizing the opportunity.
“It’s important that we have a plan so we can get to work immediately,” she told Adresseavisen. “If we come into power, we don’t know how long we’ll be sitting with it. We’ll have a certain amount of time to operate, and then it’s important that we’re as effective as possible.”
[…]
If the non-socialist parties do cooperate, current polls suggest they would enjoy a solid majority in Parliament. A lot of pride is at stake, though. The non-socialist party that traditionally was the largest in Norway, the Conservatives (Høyre), suddenly finds itself half the size of the Progress Party. That suggests it will have to swallow a lot of pride if it joins a coalition with Progress.
Hat tip: The Observer.
5 comments:
" Labour boss Martin Kolberg has admitted that Labour hasn’t communicated its achievements well enough. "
They just don't get it do they. The Labour party here in the UK thinks the same way - they think they're unpopular because they haven't 'communicated' well enough and we just don't understand what they're doing.
But that's not their problem at all - their problem is that we DO understand all too well what they're doing. And we don't like what we see.
I think it's the same with the PC multi-culti happy-clappy crowd all over Europe - they think it's just that we don't understand so they must communicate better. They communicate all too well thank you very much, by both word and deed.
But they just don't get it because they think it's impossible that they are doing wrong.
As long as they don't fall victim to "politicians' disease" and instead of doing what is right, and most often unpopular, they will enact policies to buy the votes of the electorate in order to keep themselves in office. This is the real reason we need term limits. I believe this will bring people into government who will truly act in the interest of the nation since they know their time in office is limited.
The "PC multi-culti happy-clappy crowd" of Sweden certainly is going to communicate what is applicable to the Swedish rural population by their planned massive manifestations in the approaching 2008 Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Euro PRIDE PARADE, Stockholm July 25 - Aug 3.
Islam-hugger par preference socialist Mona Sahlin, a free woman of 6 abortions the rumor says, obviously is preparing to win in the 2010 election and become first lady and prime minister if Sweden.
Serve us right.
Sir Henry Morgan said:
"I think it's the same with the PC multi-culti happy-clappy crowd all over Europe - they think it's just that we don't understand so they must communicate better. They communicate all too well thank you very much, by both word and deed.
But they just don't get it because they think it's impossible that they are doing wrong."
Bingo. The PC Elites never admit mistakes in their policies nor will they acknowledge their failures. Either they didn't communicate or the people didn't understand or Bush's fault or some other claptrap excuse. That their policies could be the problem or contributing to make the problems worse never crosses their mind. After all, they're elites and they know better than anybody else what's good for everybody.
That arrogant attitude isn't unique to Europe. Here in the US the PC Elite act in the same manner. It can be Comrade Obama or Shrillary or any other liberal and it's the same 'ol song and dance. They want people to recognize their good intentions, rather than if their policies are good or work at all. It's always somebody elses fault when they collapse in a failed heap.
To Proud Infidel's list of lib excuses for why their brilliant plans aggravate the problem they set out to solve, let us add "We just haven't spent enough money. We'll tax and spend more".
Libs' idea is to spend everyone else besides themselves into identical penury and a peasant life style (e.g. no travel any further than your feet or bike can take you, down-sized cramped houses, no strawberries in winter), The peasants remit their increasingly onerous taxes to the ruling elites, big government instead of a king and his feudal hierarchy.
Guess who gets to collect the peasants' taxes and still jet about admonishing them to work harder? Al Gore and his carbon consuming castle is the classic example.
That's how the ultimate leftist fantasy, the Soviet Union was run, with special stores for the elite while the peasants lined up all day for abrasive toilet paper.
Sure it collapsed eventually, but not before several generations of elites had a gay old life lording it over others. Because even more than money, that's what makes lefties orgasm - power over the masses they're "helping".
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