Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his red-green coalition seem assured of election victory. Preliminary results indicate the governing coalition has won 86 of the 169 parliamentary seats, with the right-wing opposition on 83.

A small percentage of votes has still to be counted, but this should not alter the outcome of the poll. Opposition leader Siv Jensen has acknowledged the probability of the government's re-election.

Mr Stoltenberg campaigned on his success in fighting Norway's economic malaise. Norway has not been hit all that hard by the global recession and has relatively low unemployment.

photo: Jens Stoltenberg campaigning (flickr/Arbeiderpartiet)