Norway Daily No. 190/99

The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 190/99

DATE: 4 October 1999

GOVERNMENT HOLDS OUT HAND TO THE LEFT

(Aftenposten-Sunday)

The political community interprets the signals from the Government in this year's Speech from the Throne as indications that the Bondevik Government hopes to cooperate with the political left on next year's fiscal budget. An emphasis on solidarity, more equitable distribution and equalization of standards of living amount to an invitation to Labour and the Socialist Left. Christian Democratic parliamentary leader Einar Steensnæs admits that the Speech from the Throne seems to carry a stronger invitation to the left than to the right.

HAUGLAND DOES NOT TRUST JAGLAND

(Dagsavisen)

The Government will present its Fiscal Budget Proposal today, and then the autumn's political horse-trading can begin. Christian Democratic Party chairman Valgerd Svarstad Haugland is not looking forward to meeting Thorbjørn Jagland in budget negotiations. She is afraid that he will be more concerned about his political future than about what is best for the country. "The only thing that is certain is that it will be a tough autumn. I am very interested in what Labour's real goals are," says Minister of Children and Family Affairs Valgerd Svarstad Haugland.

LABOUR WINNING MAYORALTIES

(Aftenposten)

After a resounding defeat in this year's local elections, Labour is emerging as the clear winner as mayors are being chosen in 405 municipalities. The process so far has produced 20 new Labour mayors, putting the party ahead of the other parties once more in the number of mayors. The Centre Party, having lost 36 mayors, is the big loser.

INDIVIDUALS SUBSIDIZE CORPORATE AIR FARES

(Aftenposten-Saturday)

Four major corporations are collaborating to bring their travel costs down. Norsk Hydro, Telenor, Statoil and Kværner will let SAS and Braathens compete for NOK 1.5 billion worth of travel services. Volume contracts are becoming increasingly common in Norwegian and international business at the expense of individuals and small businesses, who are charged higher fares to offset the cut rates granted large corporations.

VINTAGE YEAR IN FISH FARMING

(Dagens Næringsliv)

With the fish farming industry booming, 1999 is set to be the second best year of the 1990s, and the outlook for next year is also good. Projected profits for owners of aquiculture compounds are estimated at around NOK 1.3 billion, a doubling of last year's profits.

DEBTORS COERCED INTO CRIME

(Dagbladet)

Criminals are compelling debt slaves to commit serious crimes. A number of unsolved robberies in southeast Norway in recent months are thought to have been committed by persons for whom crime is the only way out of a debt crisis. With death threats against themselves and their families, they have no choice but to take part.

WORTH NOTING

• Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen hints that his party could topple the Government if it turns to Labour for budget support. (Verdens Gang)
• Labour Youth League chairman Anniken Huitfeldt has voiced hard-hitting criticism against party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland's strategy. In her view, the 36.9 per cent ultimatum from the 1997 general election has cost Labour its credibility, and for this it paid dearly in the local elections this year. (Dagsavisen-Saturday)
• In the Speech from the Throne on Saturday, the Government announced its intention to create a police directorate. Operative command over Norway's police forces will thereby be removed from the Ministry of Justice and invested in a national police chief. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
• Minister of Labour and Government Administration Laila Dåvøy said yesterday that the Government will continue to negotiate with both candidates who wish to develop the IT centre at Fornebu. Ms. Dåvøy says she expects to come to a conclusion by the end of the autumn session. (Dagsavisen-Saturday)
• It will be one year on Friday since the opening of Gardermoen airport. Modifications are now required because the airport was not built with Schengen's external border controls in mind. (Dagbladet)
• A growing number of Norwegians have been receiving treatment for mental disturbances in recent years. "Anxiety and depression seem to be afflicting a growing number of young people. We can only guess at the causes, but our complicated society is most likely involved," says psychiatrist Inger Sandanger. (Dagsavisen-Sunday)
• Couples seeking help to save their marriages end up in long queues, some for as long as six months. The law gives separated couples first place in line. (Vårt Land)

TODAY'S COMMENT

The budget proposal to be presented by the Bondevik Government today should be designed to facilitate collaboration with Labour. The major challenges in Norwegian politics, particularly in respect of the growing social disparity, cry out for political remedies arising at the point of contact between Labour and the political centre. These parties are heir to traditions which could unite them in shared social distribution policies aimed at redressing inequalities between social groups, between districts and between industries. We are well aware of the objections to cooperation between Labour and the political centre, but it is now or never: if the Bondevik Government leans to the right again, it will be straight back to the bourgeois. Labour and the coalition parties should rise above their petty differences and consider the long-term consequences of how they deal with the budget this autumn. (Nationen)