Norway’s Labour party have begun talks with their potential coalition partners in a bid to form a government.
The leaders of the Labour, Centre and Socialist Left parties met in Oslo on Thursday for the first time after Norway’s election.
Labour emerged victorious in the September 13 election with 26% of the vote, defeating the conservative party of Erna Solberg that had been in power since 2013.
Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre is projected to be the country’s next prime minister.
The three centre-left parties together hold 89 seats in Norway’s parliament, four more than needed for an absolute majority.
A centre-left alliance had previously governed Norway between 2005 and 2013, led by current NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
“We are not going to use too much time, we agree on that,” Støre told reporters on Thursday as he arrived in Oslo for the talks.
“We have not set ourselves a deadline, but we want to be effective and go to the concrete issues soon,” he added.
The three parties will be aiming to settle differences in the coalition talks over environmental and fiscal issues.
Labour and the Centre party want to cut CO2 emissions by 55% compared to 1990 by 2030, while the Socialist Left is aiming for a 70% reduction.
The two larger parties also want to develop the country’s oil sector, albeit by reducing emissions and without touching the northernmost areas, while the Socialists want to cease exploration activity.
