Party leader faces sack (Verdens Gang)

Centre Party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen could be voted out at the party’s next annual conference – if he does not resign voluntarily. A number of influential branch chairmen feel that the party would benefit from electing a new leader at next year’s annual conference. VG has spoken to 14 of the Centre Party’s branch chairmen. Most of them confirmed that the leadership question is a hot issue within the party. Odd Roger Enoksen has been party chairman for five years now. Marit Arnstad, Åslaug Haga and Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa have all been named as potential successors. All three currently have seats in the Storting.

Remand prisoners kept in police cells too long (Nationen)

In Norway remand prisoners may not be kept in solitary confinement in a police cell for more than 24 hours. However, this rule is violated on numerous occasions. So far this year the 24-hour rule has been breached well over 100 times. Last year a total of 201 abuses were recorded. The problem is worse in the west country, where prisoners were kept in police confinement longer than 24 hours on 101 occasions last year. The main reason for the lack of compliance with the 24-hour rule is that the prisons which the remand prisoners should have been transferred to are full of convicted offenders serving out their sentences. Leif Waage, deputy chief executive of the prison service’s western region, expects a three-fold increase in non-compliance this year.

PM condemns exploitation of tragedy (Dagbladet)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has condemned Arne Huuse, head of the National Bureau of Crime Investigation, Odd Roger Enoksen, chairman of the Centre Party and Per Sandberg of the Progress Party for what he describes as their "exploitation of a tragic killing" and for taking the public debate completely off course with their comments following the fatal stabbing of two doormen at a bar in Moss at the weekend. "Keep a cool head!" is the PM’s appeal to his fellow politicians and other public figures in the current heated debate – which has revealed that an increasing number of people are prepared to accept the implementation of occasionally heavy-handed measures to put an end to violence involving immigrants. "Quite unacceptable and extremely unfortunate," said the PM in response to recent public comments.

Immigrants use more violence (Dagbladet)

"Immigrants do not commit more crimes than Norwegians, but they do use more violence. The police have failed both in terms of crime prevention and in delivering a rapid response," said Ingelin Killengreen, head of the Police Directorate. She met yesterday with all the country’s police chiefs, including the outspoken head of the National Bureau of Crime Investigation, Arne Huuse. Ms Killengreen underlined that she had not banned Mr Huuse from public comment, just given him some "well meant advice on what a police chief’s job is".

Selected himself (Dagens Næringsliv)

Leif Terje Løddesøl is to take over from Ole Lund as chairman of Statoil at the end of June, providing he is elected by the company’s Corporate Assembly, which will in turn be elected by the Annual General Meeting on 7 May. Until yesterday Mr Løddesøl was chairman of the company’s selection committee and led Statoil’s efforts to find a replacement for Mr Lund. In the end the other members of the selection committee asked Mr Løddesøl, who will be 67 next week, to accept the appointment himself. Mr Løddesøl has now withdrawn from the selection committee. Jens Ulltveit-Moe, who has taken over as chairman of the selection committee, said that no one matched Mr Løddesøl’s knowledge and experience.

Reduced import duties on goods from illegal Israeli settlements (Klassekampen)

The trade agreement between Norway and Israel gives reduced import duties on goods coming into Norway from illegal Jewish settlements in Palestinian-controlled areas. Norway imports goods from Israel worth more than NOK 500,000 each year. But Israel’s borders are controversial. Does Norway also import goods from Israeli-occupied areas in Palestine? An additional clause in Norway’s trade agreement with Israel ensures preferential import duties on goods from areas under Israeli occupation. The agreement was originally signed to give Arab producers reduced import duties, but now benefits illegal Israeli settlers.

Worth Noting

1. The proposal from the Progress Party and the Socialist Left Party to introduce a NOK 1,500 per month ceiling on the cost of a place at a local authority nursery has the support of 77 per cent of the population, according to a survey carried out by Opinion. (Aftenposten)
2. Two weeks ago the police asked the court to jail one of those charged in connection with the double killing in Moss, because he had violated the terms of a previous suspended sentence. The judge rejected the police’s petition. (Aftenposten)
3. Theo Koritzinsky, a member of the Socialist Left Party’s cultural affairs committee, has called on the party’s MPs not to change the way lottery profits are allocated in accordance with a proposal from the Progress Party. The Socialist Left Party has the casting vote on this issue. (Nationen)
4. The World Wide Fund for Nature claims that every second species of Norwegian flora and fauna are in danger of becoming extinct due to global warming. Wild reindeer are particularly at risk. (Aftenposten)
5. Eating fish for dinner once a week reduces the risk of a woman having a heart attack by 30 per cent, according to a recent comprehensive study. Another study shows that men who die suddenly from a heart attack have a smaller amount of the beneficial fatty acids from fish in their blood than those who do not suffer a heart attack. (Dagsavisen)

Today’s comment from Vårt Land

Sections of the West Bank lie in ruins following Israel’s military offensive to eradicate Palestinian terrorism. There are many, not least outside Israel, who fear that the offensive will not halt the Palestinian suicide bombers, but will have the opposite effect. Labour leader Thorbjørn Jagland has been thinking creatively in an attempt to give peace a chance in the Middle East. His proposal for the creation of a Norwegian fund to help Palestinian refugees addresses one of the root causes of the suicide bombings – the miserable living conditions experienced by Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank and Gaza. A long-term objective must be to empty the camps and give the refugees the chance of a decent future – many in a Palestinian state, others in countries outside that state. It would be right for Norway to take the lead in the creation of a fund for Palestinian refugees based on public donations. The Oslo process demands our continued commitment. Moreover, the war in the Middle East has provided Norway with extremely large oil revenues, which we should not spend on ourselves.