Norway's minority government tries to shore up fragile alliance

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's embattled right-wing government met its centrist backers on Tuesday in a bid to end bickering over tax cuts, immigration and other issues. The minority government of Prime Minister Erna Solberg's Conservative Party and Finance Minister Siv Jensen's Progress Party, which relies on support in parliament from the Liberals and the Christian Democrats, has slumped in opinion polls just 18 months after winning a national election. "After gaining some experience, it's natural to discuss how to resolve future issues and the methods by which we work together," Solberg told reporters ahead of the scheduled six-hour meeting of the four party's leaders, deputy leaders and other staff. "We must also discuss how to handle the cooperation between parliament and the government," she added. The four parties together won a majority of 96 out of 169 seats in the 2013 election, but recent polls suggest they would win only about 75 seats if a vote were held now. The government's 2015 fiscal budget proposal, presented last October, was criticised by the Liberals and Christian Democrats for giving big tax cuts to the rich as benefits for the poor were cut. To avoid another damaging conflict, commentators expect the four parties to discuss next year's budget in detail before the government presents its bill. On immigration, the justice minister was forced last December to apologise to its partners over the increased rate of expulsions of children seeking refugee status, which the government had originally agreed to scale back. (Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg; Writing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Andrew Heavens)