The Royal Ministry Of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 52/00

Date: 14 March 2000

LABOUR TAKES OVER ON FRIDAY (Aftenposten)

Labour party leaders spent hours at party headquarters yesterday discussing the makeup of the new Government. After the most important principles were agreed on in the afternoon, Jens Stoltenberg was able to retire to his office at the Storting to start making phone calls. He declined to make any statement to the press beyond disclosing that it has now been determined that his Government will officially take over on Friday.

HUNTER TURNS PREY (Dagsavisen)

Kjell Magne Bondevik is prepared to make a come-back, and he will have no compunctions about toppling Jens Stoltenberg’s new Labour Government if the opportunity should arise. "We will give him a reasonable chance, but we are ready to take over again," said Mr. Bondevik, who made it quite clear that he will not stand aside if a new parliamentary conflict leads to the coming Government’s fall.

THE FIGURES ARE AGAINST STOLTENBERG (Nationen)

Din Mening/Norsk Statistikk’s party barometer for March, taken during the chaotic week which ended with the fall of the Bondevik Government, is bad news for Prime Minister-designate Jens Stoltenberg. In this poll, Labour dropped 2.3 points against a 5.6 per cent gain for the Christian Democrats. "This survey confirms the impression that people feel we were simply thrown out, and on an issue on which we enjoy wide popular sympathy," says Christian Democratic Party chairman Valgerd Svarstad Haugland.

TOUGH BUDGET WORK IN STORE FOR NEW GOVERNMENT (Dagens Næringsliv)

Jens Stoltenberg’s first job as Prime Minister will be to make drastic cuts in the 2001 draft budget. According to a Ministry of Finance memo, at least NOK 5 billion must be slashed from the ministries’ budget proposals. The first meeting on next year’s fiscal budget was scheduled to be concluded today between all government ministers and a range of senior ministry officials.

TRAFFIC SAFETY FUNDING UNUSED (Aftenposten)

NOK 75 million allocated by the Storting towards traffic safety measures has yet to be spent by the Bondevik Government. "These funds could have saved lives," says a spokesman for traffic safety organization Trygg Trafikk, who finds this neglect unacceptable. Traffic accidents took 305 lives last year and injured 11,300.

HYDRO SEAFOOD SOLD TO DUTCH COMPANY (Aftenposten)

Nutreco, a Dutch group, has acquired Hydro Seafood for something between NOK 3.5 and 4 billion. The stage is now set for Nutreco to become biggest in the world in the production and processing of Atlantic salmon, representing a full 20 per cent of worldwide sales of this product group. "Norsk Hydro is selling Hydro Seafood because it wishes to consolidate its activities in the core areas of energy, light metals and fertilizer," says Senior Information Officer Tor Steinum.

WORTH NOTING

1. The National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim) solved 91.1 per cent of its cases last year. 60 investigations were brought to trial and resulted in convictions, and NOK 50 million was recovered from white-collar criminals through fines, confiscation and indemnification. (Dagsavisen)
2. From the point of view of small and medium-size businesses, they face the worst possible Government when Jens Stoltenberg takes control later this week. Only two per cent of business leaders prefer a Labour Government. (Vårt Land)
3. Despite the fact that it is no longer in power, the centrist coalition will submit a proposal to reduce taxes on stock options. This measure could be Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s first defeat. (Dagens Næringsliv)
4. The Bondevik Government had notified the Storting of 127 bills it would submit before the summer recess. A few have already been submitted, but 120 still remain on which the new Government must take a stand. (NTB)
5. Failure of a static component in the roof structure, caused by overloading, could be the cause of the collapse of the Rustadhøgda community centre in which 3 military officers lost their lives on Saturday night. (Aftenposten)
6. A 27-year-old captain in the Norwegian KFOR contingent, who was involved in a fatal traffic accident in Macedonia last August, has been charged with careless driving, which is punishable by up to one year in prison. (Dagsavisen)
7. The campaign to win a seat for Norway on the UN Security Council costs NOK 10 million. Two years’ membership of the Security Council will cost a further NOK 20 million. (Aftenposten)
8. Kjell Opseth aims to reverse the sale of Hydro Seafood to the Dutch Nutreco group. He is prepared to spend over NOK 100 million to keep the fish-farming company in Norwegian hands. (Dagens Næringsliv)
9. As of tomorrow, it will be illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving a motor vehicle in Norway. Mobile phones must be attached to a permanent bracket, preferably on the dashboard, in order to avoid a NOK 500 fine. (Dagsavisen)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Dagsavisen

Labour Party leaders made a wise decision in stating publicly before the weekend that party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland would serve in the new Government. This will do much to prevent the emergence of a bipolar power structure within the party. Now that Labour is at the helm, the executive power, and thus the initiative, lies with the Prime Minister’s Government. Discord has developed from time to time between party headquarters and the Office of the Prime Minister. Contact between party and Government is best maintained by including the party chairman in the Government. We are given to understand that Thorbjørn Jagland is being considered for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—a logical choice considering his interests and background. Throughout his political career, Mr. Jagland has taken a keen interest in foreign policy issues. His interest in European issues in particular is very strong. He has never concealed his dream of seeing Norway included in the European Union. After two-and-a-half years of accommodation, we are looking forward to a more active European policy. However, there are a number of problems inherent in the combination of Foreign Minister and party chairman. A Foreign Minister is expected to distance himself from party considerations and the day-to-day political rough-and-tumble. Foreign Minister Jagland would have to place stiff restrictions on party chairman Jagland. One of Mr. Jagland’s many challenges will be to convince the Norwegian people, as well as his own party members, that this combination is good politically as well as possible in practice.