Some random thoughts on the upcoming election..

The local elections in Norway are four days away. On monday the Norwegians are going to the polls.

In one recent opinion poll, the Right party gained five percentages, while the Forwards-party lost five percent. Also the right wing of Norwegian politics got a total of 52 %. This is, to me, uplifting news, especially for a country I always saw as too far left. Also, in the recent elections in high schools, the Right party gained significantly in comparison with the latest elections in 2005, while the Forwards-party lost, also significantly. The elections in high schools are viewed as a fairly good pointer as to how the real elections will turn out. Let`s hope they will this time as well.

This is uplifting also because the "serious" right is gaining at the expense of the more populistic parts of it. I am very sceptical to the Forwards-party, and I do think they are in effect bad for the Norwegian right-of-center. Let`s hope this turn will make it less necessary for Erna Solberg, the Right Party chairman, to make any arrangements for a potential coalition with the Forwards Party.

I`ve noticed that the Norwegian Labour Party are focusing on something unusual in their campaign ads this election. In one of the ads, Rune Gerhardsen, the Labour candidate for city council chairman in Oslo, is pointing out to one of the young up-and coming politicians that it should be easier to succeed for young people in Oslo. That is probably true. In reference to one of my earlier blogs-postings, let`s hope it will be accepted as well.. Anyway, I applaud this focus on success.

In another of the ads, mr. Gerhardsen is asking the same girl if she could promise him that he will be taken care of when he is getting old. Her answer is that they will need to win the election before she can promise him that. This is interesting. In a recent report on the work conditions in the health care in Oslo, the conclusions are that there are way to few nurses, not enough time available for each patient, etc. Maybe the Labour has got some kind of plan to correct everything thats wrong with public health care, who knows..

Personally I think the state should give such a promise. That`s what living in a welfare state is all about. You should be taken care of when you`re not able to do it yourself. It is the state`s task to make sure of this. This is not to say that the state needs to actually perform care-taking tasks itself. Maybe a better solution will be delegating tasks the state is unable to perform properly itself to others, for instance by allowing private companies to offer services like this to a larger extent.

As an example, the Ørland county in Trøndelag is offering public care for old people for 75% of the base pensions + 85% of earnings on any kind, including interest on savings. 75% of the base pension comes to exactly 4.176 Norwegian crowns a month. Why not let private companies offer such services? It`s already something that is paid for, so why not let there be some competition about it, and maybe some companies are able to provide better services for less money? Probably private companies will make an effort to offer better services to attract customers, and they will potentially be able to cover more of the demand than the state is currently able to do..

I am pretty sure the right wing of Norwegian politics would be more willing to open up for this than the left side.