Norwegian Voters Rejecting Governing Party

Discontented with the government that led them to unprecedented prosperity, Norwegians failed Monday to give the Labor Party enough votes to stay in office, early results showed.

If those results hold up, the world’s second-largest oil exporter could be thrown into political turmoil as small parties try to forge an alliance to run the country.

With 68.9 percent of the vote counted, the tally showed Labor had received just 34.3 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Thorbjoern Jagland has said he would step down if Labor does not get at least the 36.9 percent support that it received in the last national election in 1993.