After five weeks of political negotiation, maneuvering and bickering, there is finally cross-party agreement on who should be the capital's mayor.
 After weeks of political in-fighting Fabian Stang has emerged as the mayor of Oslo. PHOTO: Poppe, Cornelius |
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The non-socialist parties - the Conservative, Progress, Christian Democrat and Liberal parties - have now agreed to support the Conservative Party's candidate Fabian Stang for the post, with Christian Democrat Aud Kvalbein deputy mayor.
The Conservative Party and the populist Progress Party were the election winners in the capital, but various potential coalitions to choose the mayor collapsed after first the Progress Party, and then smaller swing parties jockeyed for influence.
After a surprising approach towards the Labour Party by the Progress Party, a partnership that would have left the swing Liberal Party with minimal influence and risked Labour having a decisive role in the outcome, the non-Socialist parties regrouped to back Stang.
City council leader Erling Lae was pleased to learn that he would be getting a fellow Conservative as mayor. The final vote took place on Wednesday afternoon.
The leader of the Oslo Progress Party, Peter Myhre, said that the appointment of heads of various city committees was now also clear.
Hilde Lundgaard
Aftenposten English Web Desk
Jonathan Tisdall
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