The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 34/00

17 February 2000

PM MUST GIVE IN OR GIVE UP (Dagsavisen)

Either Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik must accept that gas-fired power plants will be built, or he must resign, according to the Storting majority consisting of Labour, the Conservatives and the Progress Party. Yesterday the Government tried to threaten Labour and the Conservatives into compromising. Today the two parties, joined by the Progress Party, will present their ultimatum. "We will tell the Government, in detail, how this issue is to be dealt with," says Jan Tore Sanner (Conservative).

GOVERNMENT CRISIS ON THE HORIZON (Aftenposten)

Minister of the Environment Guro Fjellanger and Minister of Petroleum and Energy Marit Arnstad are playing key roles in the tug-of-war between the Government and the Labour and Conservative Parties in the gas-fired power plant issue. When Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik returns from his visit to Africa today, he will immediately start trying to find a solution that will enable the Government to survive the Storting’s treatment of the power plant issue. However, he is not so interested in remaining at his post that he is prepared to ignore the views of two of his government ministers. Their opinions will be regarded as extremely important. This means that there is a greater likelihood of a Government crisis than there has been for quite some time.

GAS OPPONENTS SUPPORT JENS (Dagbladet)

"I don’t think that Kjell Magne Bondevik should gamble on a division within the Labour Party on the gas-fired power plant issue. If a Government crisis affects the Labour Party at all, it will serve to unite it," says Storting member Trond Giske. Both he and the Executive Secretary of the Norwegian Labour Youth League, Anniken Huitfeldt, oppose building gas-fired power plants. In Mr. Giske’s view, it is totally unimaginable that the Storting group will not vote unanimously on this issue, whether or not Prime Minister Bondevik calls for a vote of confidence.

TIME FLIES (Vårt Land)

Both sides of the conflict over gas-fired power plants are basing their arguments on the assumption that the plants can be built now. In practice, this would probably not be the case for many years. In the first place, it will take several years to build the plants. In the second, the builders must be assured of higher prices for electricity. If nothing completely unforeseen happens, this will also take several years. According to one estimate, it may take ten years. There is, in other words, no reason to believe that there is any hurry to take a decision on an emissions permit, as Labour and the Conservatives are demanding.

UP TO 2000 ASYLUM-SEEKERS MAY BE EXPELLED (Aftenposten)

State Secretary Atle Hamar at the Ministry of Justice is giving notice of more stringent controls of foreigners in connection with the Schengen cooperation that is planned to be fully operative as of March, 2001. Nobody is prepared to state exactly how many people could be sent out of the country, but the immigration authorities believe that as many as 1500 to 2000 asylum-seekers may be affected by the application of the Schengen agreement. In that case, every sixth asylum-seeker who is currently waiting in Norwegian reception centres would be affected. At the same time, combating crimes committed by asylum-seekers in reception centres is being given higher priority, and the consequences of committing criminal acts are being made clearer.

REPURCHASE AGREEMENT WORTH NOK 5.1 BILLION (Dagens Næringsliv)

The Spanish company Bazan is offering a direct repurchase agreement for NOK 5.1 billion if it is awarded the contract to build five new frigates. The repurchase potential is NOK 28 billion. This is the latest repurchase agreement that Bazan has submitted to the Ministry of Defence. If Bazan is awarded the contract, the beneficiaries will be Kongsberg, Umoe and the Bergen shipyard Mjellem & Karlsen.

UP, UP AND AWAY (Verdens Gang)

The Norwegian economy is on its way up. And record-high oil prices are filling up an already well-filled state treasury. But we won’t be getting much pleasure from our wealth. Because today Central Bank Governor Svein Gjedrem will urge us to be cautious. We will only get crumbs in this year’s wage settlement, because Norwegian politicians and the private sector are afraid of higher interest rates. This evening Mr. Gjedrem will hold his annual speech for key politicians and business leaders in Norway.

WORTH NOTING

• Thorbjørn Jagland will be appointed chairman of the Storting Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. Håkon Blankenborg will have to yield his position to the Labour chairman. Mr. Jagland feels it is important that the Labour chairman is given "a prominent position in the Storting". (Dagsavisen)
• In the course of a few days the Labour Party has won 200 000 new voters. The party has made a leap of eight per cent, to 38.3, in Nationen’s party barometer. The Christian Democratic Party and Progress Party have dropped most. The Conservative Party, at 18.2 per cent, is the country’s second largest party. (Nationen)
• "There will be no separate kitty for nurses and teachers in this year’s wage settlement," states Minister of Labour and Government Administration Laila Dåvøy. This is a big disappointment to her former subordinates in the Norwegian Nurses' Association. (Dagsavisen)
• Gardermoen Airport has received a surprising sixth place among European airports for punctuality for 1999 seen as a whole. The level of punctuality for the entire year was 78 per cent at Gardermoen, which means that 22 per cent of the total of 105 000 departing flights had delays of at least 15 minutes before takeoff. (Verdens Gang)
• Moose hunters in Østerdalen, in southeastern Norway, are getting competition. The 18 wolves in the area will probably wolf down the entire year’s moose production, according to preliminary figures from Hedmark College. (Nationen)
• At 6 pm this evening, Central Bank Governor Svein Gjedrem will begin his annual speech. When he finishes around an hour later, our national savings account will have increased by approximately NOK 17 million. (Vårt Land)

TODAY'S COMMENT

The Labour Party is skyrocketing in today’s poll figures from Nationen. But this is, after all, exactly what we expected. The real sensation would have been if the "Stoltenberg effect" had not appeared at all. The question is how long it will last, and how the Labour Party will make use of it. We believe that a confrontation between Jens Stoltenberg and the Bondevik Government this spring is inevitable, whatever the cost. If Midsummer Eve arrives, and the Storting takes its summer holiday with Mr. Bondevik still in the prime minister’s seat and Mr. Stoltenberg still in opposition, Labour will be frustrated and depressed. Jens Stoltenberg is strong enough to keep fighting, even through a year in opposition. But all the same, this is Mr. Stoltenberg’s opportunity to sail into Government office. Politicians are seldom given more than one chance like this, and it will most likely not come again. Just ask Thorbjørn Jagland. (Nationen)