Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of the Labour Party emerged from the Royal Palace in Oslo after first delivering his list of government ministers to King Harald V. Many of the top positions already had been tipped in advance.
The two party leaders who formed the so-called "red-green" government coalition with Labour, for example, both took over powerful posts. Kristin Halvorsen of the Socialist Left is Norway's new finance minister, while Åslaug Haga of the Center Party, which champions the interests of farmers and Norway's outlying districts, is the new cabinet minister in charge of local governments.
The important position of Foreign Minister went to Jonas Gahr Støre, a longtime Labour Party member who held key posts in the governments of legendary Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. Støre most recently has headed the Norwegian Red Cross.
Erik Solheim, former head of the Socialist Left and a good friend of Halvorsen, will make a comeback in government circles after being named head of the ministry in charge of foreign aid. Solheim most recently has been a UN envoy heavily involved in peace efforts in Sri Lanka.
Surprise appointments included Odd Roger Enoksen from the Center Party as Oil and Energy Minister, an important post in Norway. That spot had been widely expected to go to former Center Party head Marit Arnstad, who was the oil minister in an earlier coalition government. Arnstad, a single mother, reportedly declined the post just before the weekend, in order to spend more time with her young son.
Another surprise was the appointment of Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, a former mayor of Bergen from the Labour Party, as Defense Minister. Helen Bjørnøy, an ordained minister who recently lost her bid to be new bishop of Oslo, will be Norway's new minister of the environment. Bjørnøy currently is secretary general of the charitable organization Kirkens Bymisjon.
