New Norwegian Prime Minister Mr Jens Stoltenberg named a youthful Labour cabinet yesterday, including eight women out of 19 members, to succeed a centrist coalition that collapsed last week.
Mr Stoltenberg, who becomes Norway's youngest prime minister after celebrating his 41st birthday on Thursday, named former premier Mr Thorbjoern Jagland (49) as Foreign Minister in the minority cabinet.
Mr Karl Eirik Schjoett-Pedersen (40), a former fisheries minister, was appointed to the other key post as Finance Minister to steer a strong economy, buoyed by high oil prices.
"Many in this government are known faces," Mr Stoltenberg said on a snow-dusted square under grey clouds outside King Harald's palace after unveiling the list to the monarch. "It has breadth, renewal and experience."
Six members of the new cabinet were in their 30s, nine in their 40s and four in their 50s. Despite their youthfulness, many were former ministers, including Mr Stoltenberg, who was both finance and energy minister in the 1990s.
Women cabinet ministers include newcomer Ms Hanne Harlem, younger sister of ex-prime minister Ms Gro Harlem Brundtland, as Justice Minister. Ms Grete Knudsen, the oldest cabinet minister at 59, was appointed as Industry and Trade Minister.
Labour, the dominant force in Norway since the 1920s, is returning to power after a twoyear break under centrist Prime Minister Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik. Mr Bondevik quit last week after losing a key environmental vote in parliament.
Mr Stoltenberg is likely to resist calls for an oil-funded spending splurge on everything from schools to the health system, fearing it could push up inflation.
He has said that his government will stick to the existing 2000 budget, which has a neutral fiscal stance.
Mr Stoltenberg's father, Thorvald, was the UN peace mediator during the Bosnian war and a former foreign minister. Ms Brundtland, Ms Hanne Harlem's sister, is head of the World Health Organisation and was Norway's first woman prime minister in 1981.