Stoltenberg unworried by prospect of deputy leader battle (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

It became clear yesterday that Jens Stoltenberg has accepted the chairmanship of the Labour Party. The announcement was greeted with relief in the Labour ranks that the leadership question had finally been clarified. However, it looks as though there will be a battle ahead for the position of Mr Stoltenberg’s deputy. Mr Stoltenberg himself is unworried by the prospect of a battle for the deputy leadership. "No, I mean, a discussion about personalities, it… It very much depends on the tone of the debate, that suspicion and unnecessary conflicts are not created," said the incoming chairman of the Labour Party, pointing to the fact that the party has not previously had discussions or taken a vote on the deputy leader slot.

Stoltenberg was ready for open battle with Jagland (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Jens Stoltenberg was ready to play hardball in the struggle for the Labour leadership. If Thorbjørn Jagland had not withdrawn from the race, Mr Stoltenberg was planning to force the party conference in November to choose between himself or his opponent. This would have ripped the party wide open, with the ensuing internal conflict lasting for years. When Mr Stoltenberg declared his candidacy for the Labour Party chairmanship yesterday, he was extremely cautious in his description of his relations with Mr Jagland.

Progress Party wants right to approve appointment of Chief Justice (Aftenposten)

The Storting’s demand for stiffer sentencing is being sabotaged by the Supreme Court, claims Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen. The Progress Party now wants control over who should be appointed as the country’s next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Mr Hagen wants MPs to interview candidates, and says the Storting should have the final say in selecting the person who will lead country’s highest judicial body. "I want to see a Supreme Court which is critical of the legislature, protects the Constitution and ensures that the Storting does not adopt laws by simple majority which violate the Constitution," he said.

Flood of asylum-seekers to Norway after Danish elections (Aftenposten/Sunday)

The number of people seeking asylum in Norway has almost tripled this year, while it has dropped by half in Denmark. 46 people arrived in Norway every day in the first three months of the year. "Denmark has changed its asylum and integration policies, and now seems less attractive," said Kristin Ørmen Johnsen, State Secretary at the Local Government and Regional Affairs Ministry. According to Trygve G. Nordby, head of the Immigration Directorate (UDI), the record rise will continue. He believes the rumours about slow application processing and the possibility of earning money in various areas, is what tempts many people to come to Norway. "I hope that over time the rumour will spread that there is no point trying in it on in Norway," said Mr Nordby.

Norwegian executive pay growing fastest in Europe (Dagbladet/Sunday)

Executives at Norway’s largest companies have seen their pay rise faster than any other executives in Europe over the past three years. The figures have provoked the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and provide ammunition for the unions in the current round of national wage negotiations. "This confirms our criticism of the way executive pay has been growing, particularly in the biggest companies," said LO deputy president Roar Flåten. Norwegian executives still make far less money than their European colleagues, but the gap is closing.

Wave of strikes looks likely (Dagens Næringsliv)

If the State Mediator, Reidar Webster, does not succeed in facilitating a wage agreement in the engineering industry today, Norway could be hit by a wave of strikes this week. The deadline for mediation in the engineering industry runs out at midnight tonight, but no one would be surprised if negotiations continued into the small hours.

Full tariff (Verdens Gang)

Norwegian fishing companies could lose the right to exemption from EU import duties after EU fraud-busters and customs officials uncovered evidence of widespread deception by Norwegian cod exporters. By claiming that Russian-caught cod was Norwegian, exporters could save billions of kroner in EU import duties. Norwegian cod is not liable for import duty as it enters the EU, while imports of Russian cod must pay a 12 per cent tariff.

Worth Noting

• Tighter immigration rules in Denmark could also affect Norwegians who move to that country. The Danish government wants the same rules to apply to everyone, including citizens of the Nordic countries. Outi Ojala, president of the Nordic Council, has reacted sharply to the proposals. "It violates the Nordic conventions on freedom of movement," he said. (Aftenposten)
• "I could have chosen a quieter life, but it would also have been more boring. My ambition is to rebuild the Labour Party, and re-establish the party as the political force for justice in society that it has always been," said Jens Stoltenberg who is due to become the Labour Party’s next leader. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• "The sentencing discount awarded to Kristin Kirkemo Haukeland and Lars Grønnerød is an important judicial policy signal," said public prosecutor Olav Helge Thue. The pair were sentenced to 16 and 18 years respectively for their part in the triple murder at the Orderud farm in 2000. Per and Veronica Orderud were sentenced to 21 years imprisonment. (All newspapers Saturday)
• Tore Wollum was a member of the jury at the Orderud murder trial, and one of those who made the sentencing decisions after all four defendants were found guilty. "They should all have got stiffer sentences. Per and Veronica should have got at least 25 years," said Mr Wollum. (Dagbladet)
• Three senior executives at the Postal Administration has left their posts after financial irregularities were uncovered. The Postal Administration has admitted that "unfortunate business dispositions" have been uncovered. Corporate management has now decided to draw a veil over the whole affair. (Dagsavisen)
• The giant American tobacco company, Philip Morris, hired a group of ruthless PR advisers to mount a smear campaign against Gro Harlem Brundtland before her appointment as head of the World Health Organization (WHO). As WHO boss, Ms Brundtland was seen as a threat to the whole tobacco industry. (Dagbladet)
• On average Norwegian secondary school teachers are 55 years’ old, making them amongst the oldest in Europe. The Union of Education Norway, a trade union representing teaching staff from nursery to university level, believes the situation will get worse because measures to improve recruitment have come too late. (Dagsavisen)
• After a six-week strike, which affected thousands of patients this winter, the nurses have emerged empty-handed. This is the conclusion arrived at by the National Wages Board after the Government imposed compulsory arbitration. Nurses’ union leader Bente G.H. Slaaten can draw some small comfort from the fact that opinion polls commissioned by the nurses show that the general public supports their wage demands. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
• More and more of the Federation of Norwegian Professional Associations’ women members are employed in the public sector. Fewer and fewer of them choose to set up their own businesses. The organization has now called on the Government to implement measures to reverse this trend. (Nationen)
• In the next four years well under half of those young men who are eligible for military service will actually be called up. And since even more drop out underway, only one in three will complete their military service "If the numbers drop any further there is a grave danger that it will weaken the country’s willingness to defend itself. This is a dangerous development," admits Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. (Verdens Gang)

Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

Great interest was attached to Jens Stoltenberg’s first speech to a Labour Party meeting after accepting nomination for the party leadership. But those who had expected any statements to indicate the party was entering a new age were disappointed. Such indications will come eventually. They will have to if Labour is to win back some of the many voters who no longer believe that the party’s policies mark the right way forward in a new century. But Labour must first learn to listen, not lecture. The voters are faithless and switch allegiance more quickly than ever. They do not believe yesterday’s solutions are the answer for today’s or tomorrow’s society. This is particularly so for younger voters. They are just not interested in what a party with plummeting support did to develop the Norwegian welfare state in the last century – long before they were born. Local opinion polls in previously solid Labour bastions also tell their unequivocal story. And it is here that Jens Stoltenberg faces perhaps his greatest and most difficult challenge.