– Must bite nails for a while longer – VG

The first election forecasts ticked in at 9 pm on Monday, to the full cheers of the MDGs’ election vigil. There, the party was poised to get 4.2 percent of the vote. Gradually, the mood has become more lax.

The MDGs have crept ever closer, and saw below, the magic barrier that will be able to give the party a major mandate boost in the Storting.

But when MDG leader Une Bastholm goes on stage around 22.40 on Monday night, the party is down as far as over the barring limit:

– We already know now that we have made a better parliamentary election than ever, she says.

– Over 100,000 people have voted for the MDGs. We know almost certainly – or believe – that both Lan and I will enter the Storting.

Bastholm reassured his party colleagues that MDG can double its parliamentary group even if they do not exceed the threshold.

– That’s why we’ve written history today – so now we just have to bite our nails for a while longer. Many people have given the environmental party their trust for the very first time. Many seniors and grandparents have voted for the future of their children and grandchildren.

Should this be the election result, MDG is poised to get three seats – two more than before – in the Storting.

The preliminary count also gives Støre barely majority for his dream government – without MDG.

Berg: – Very exciting

– This is terribly exciting. There is a nerve-wracking atmosphere here, says MDG profile Lan Marie Berg to VG after the first figures ticked in.

– We will not be calm until all votes have been counted. It can be historic. The Storting can get a real green party.

With the MDGs just below the threshold, instead of just above, she thinks the same thing:

– It is very exciting.

Berg is clear on what government cooperation she wants:

– We believe that the best thing for the country would be a government with Labor, MDG and SV. Then you could have a real visionary and radical project for Norway.

This is what the preliminary distribution of seats looks like:

In the previous election, the MDGs were above the threshold of the average of the polls, before they fell below and ended with one representative in the Storting. What may be crucial this time, is about the party Oslo voters have delivered.

– We have grown a lot in Oslo since the last election – we are very excited about whether it will take time to get over, but every vote counts, Berg said earlier Monday night about it.

VG is aware that internally in the MDGs, they operate with nine percent that the absolute lowest party can get in Oslo if they are to hope to get over the barrier limit nationally. So far, they are poised to do so:

Salad and mushroom taco are served at the election vigil – and while the MDGs are waiting for the result, there has been a quiz, including questions about Norway’s national parks. When party secretary Torkil Vederhus opened the election vigil, he called it a historic moment for the party.

– We have not had so many parliamentary election vigils with so many people once, he said.

This is what it looked like in the hall when the first results ticked in: