Ahead of the 1997 parliamentary election, Jagland announced the cabinet would resign if the Labour Party received less than 36.9% of the popular vote. This was the percentage of the vote that the party had received in the 1993 election while Brundtland was still leading, which had provided them with an unclear mandate to govern. The Constitution of Norway does not require a cabinet to be formally approved by Parliament in order to serve, and a minority government that lacks concrete support from its inception may serve as long as it does not receive a vote of no confidence.