Brundtland Takes Oslo Reins Again
Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland took power Saturday, vowing to revive stalled talks on ties with the European Community, the issue that toppled the previous center-right government.
Brundtland, taking office for the third time as head of a minority government, unveiled a 19-member Cabinet including nine women to take over from a year-old coalition headed by Jan Syse, which fell last Monday.
“Jobs, the environment and children” will be top domestic priorities, she said, while reviving talks on ties with the 12-nation EC will dominate international policy.
Those talks “will go from a dead halt to constructive, forward-looking work,” Brundtland, 51, told a news conference.
But her Labor Party, with 63 seats in the 165-member Parliament, says it will not make up its mind quickly on EC membership--the most divisive issue facing Norway’s 4 million people. Labor’s decision would swing the debate.
Syse’s coalition, in which his Conservative Party favored full EC membership while the two junior parties were opposed, fell after a dispute on how far Norway should open its economy to EC investment and competition.
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