Carl I Hagen thinks his party (Fremskrittspartiet), the country's most right-wing, should ally itself with the Conservatives (Hoeyre), while the two major left-wing parties, Labour and the Socialist Left, could team up.
He thinks Norwegian politics would be "neater and more predictable" if the Christian Democrats (Kristelig Folkepartiet,) the Liberals (Venstre) and the Center Party (Senterpartiet) were absorbed by the bigger parties.
These three parties currently have little voter support in public opinion polls, with the Christian Democrats holding just around 8 percent of the vote and the others around half that.
Moreover, Hagen thinks the current non-socialist three-party coalition government made up of the Conservatives, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, lacks vision and won't be remembered for championing any major issues.
"This government wants most of all to have power," Hagen said, claiming the coalition parties appear less interested in how that power is used. A need to maintain unity within the coalition, for example, has led to myriad examples where party platforms have been compromised on key issues.
Hagen told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) Tuesday morning that Norway's abundance of parties also means no single party can realistically hope to earn a majority in parliament.
Hagen's comments, coming on the eve of local elections September 15, were predictably dismissed by most other parties, especially those he'd like to see phased out.
The Christian Democrats' Kjell Magne Bondevik, currently Norway's prime minister in the coalition government despite his party's lack of popularity, literally laughed off Hagen's proposal on NRK Tuesday.
He also called it "old-fashioned" and claimed modern election research shows far more areas of conflict in Norwegian politics than those that occur along left-right lines.
The Socialist Left's Kristin Halvorsen also opposed Hagen's proposal, even though her party would survive under it. She said voters should be able to decide how the system is set up.