2 leaders face defeat
Two center-left governments on opposite sides of the globe are likely to lose power this month, despite both presiding over commodity-fueled booms while other economies sank into crisis. Voters in Australia and Norway are almost certain to boot out their governments within a couple of days of each other, fed up with blunders and scandals, and worried that wealth created by high mineral and oil prices has not been spent wisely.
Opinion polls indicate sound defeats for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in parliamentary elections on Saturday and his Norwegian Labor counterpart, Jens Stoltenberg, on Sept 9.
In both countries a weariness with parties that have served relatively long terms is mixed with concern that the economic miracles are fading, leaving the countries badly prepared for life after the resources boom.
Australia's dusty outback and the frigid seas off Norway are worlds apart, but wealth from there has helped both countries to prosper.
Reuters
(China Daily 09/02/2013 page11)
