Alternative candidates under discussion (Aftenposten/Sunday)

The power struggle between Thorbjørn Jagland and Jens Stoltenberg could result in a third person becoming the Labour Party’s next leader. Key Labour officials are now saying that both Mr Jagland and Mr Stoltenberg should or could be removed from the party leadership. But no obvious new candidates for the role have presented themselves.

Answer still not clear (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Thorbjørn Jagland and Jens Stoltenberg’s ‘joint plan’ for Monday’s executive committee meeting has one major flaw – the answer to the Labour Party’s leadership battle is not yet clear. After a one-hour meeting behind closed doors on Friday, Mr Jagland and Mr Stoltenberg emerged to declare that they had arrived at a ‘total plan’ which the two are to present on Monday. "It is a wide-ranging process, with the work stretching forward to the party conference in November this year, and then on to the next conference ahead of the general election. The plan covers both organizational and political issues," said Mr Jagland. Neither Gerd-Liv Valla nor any of the other leaders of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) are willing to make any comment about the Labour Party’s leadership struggle.

No one will lose face (Dagbladet/Saturday)

Thorbjørn Jagland and Jens Stoltenberg are sticking to their guns. At the same time the party leadership is working over the weekend to find a solution in which no one loses face or emerges the loser. What the solution will look like is anybody’s guess at the moment. Sources close to Jens Stoltenberg say that it is out of the question for Mr Stoltenberg to bow to Mr Jagland’s demand for clarification at this point in time. According to several sources Dagbladet has spoken to, Mr Stoltenberg has decided to fight to become party leader now. Mr Jagland’s strategy is to reinforce his position as party chairman so well that it will be impossible to replace him for another two years. But Mr Jagland’s major weakness in this power struggle is that he has said he will not stand as prime ministerial candidate. This means he is no longer a potential party leader for all those who wish to put an end to the current split leadership.

Jagland and Stoltenberg vie for Giske’s support (Aftenposten)

There is nothing to suggest that Thorbjørn Jagland or Jens Stoltenberg will call off their bid for power at today’s meeting of the Labour Party’s national executive committee. Both are now trying to win favour with Trond Giske. Inside the party Mr Giske is known for his extensive networking activities. He also has significant influence over the party’s youth wing.

At least 18 killed by Home Guard weapons since 1986 (Aftenposten)

In the past 16 years at least 18 people have been killed following incidents involving the army’s AG3 automatic assault rifle. In addition to these incidents, there have been numerous episodes in which the weapon has been used in robberies and to threaten, according to a review of Norwegian newspaper articles Aftenposten has carried out. Around 80,000 AG3s, plus ammunition, are to be found in Norwegian homes. These weapons have been issued to army reservists serving in the Norwegian Home Guard. The Norwegian Home Guard is asking the country’s medical authorities for help to prevent mentally unstable individuals being issued weapons. Almost two years ago the Armed Forces were criticized by the Office of the Auditor General for inadequate control of privately held weapons belonging to the regular army and the Home Guard.

Storting to discuss reservists’ weapons (NTB)

The question of whether army reservists serving in the Norwegian Home Guard should continue to keep weapons at home is to be raised in the Storting. The problem has hit the headlines again following an incident in Geilo on Saturday in which a 25-year-old army reservist is thought to have used his army issue AG-3 automatic assault rifle to kill three people and seriously injure another. Marit Nybakk (Labour), who chairs the Storting’s Defence Committee, said she has difficulty envisaging a situation in which Norway’s reservists do not have their weapons at home, but believes that all possible alternatives must now be investigated. She would not rule out the introduction of a new weapons scheme.

Flood of Mongolian asylum-seekers. (Aftenposten/Sunday)

Since the middle of last year 596 people from Mongolia have applied for political asylum in Norway. They claim to have travelled via the Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow, from where they have been driven to Murmansk and then on into Norway. They have probably acquired the necessary papers to enter Norway by means of a Schengen visa issued by the German Embassy in Ulan Bator. Norwegian authorities claim that Mongolian television has been urging people to travel to Norway.

Worth Noting

• Former State Secretary, Bernt Bull, has given a new twist to the current power struggle taking place inside the Labour Party with the suggestion that both Thorbjørn Jagland and Jens Stoltenberg should pull out. Mr Bull believes the situation has become so critical, both in terms of political understanding and communication, that it would be better for the party to start from scratch. (Vårt Land/Saturday)

• Thorbjørn Jagland is openly supported by far more of the Labour Party’s national executive committee members than Jens Stoltenberg. This could be significant when the national executive chooses a selection committee later on. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
• The 25-year-old threw out his guests after an argument, then he took his AG-3 automatic rifle and followed them home. He stood in the Tufto family’s garden and shot at the house. By the time he had finished a father, mother and son lay dead. The perpetrator subsequently took his own life. (Aftenposten)
• Franz Fischer, the EU’s Commissioner for Agriculture, yesterday promised Norwegian Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen that he would give the agreement on salmon between Norway and the EU his increased personal attention. According to Mr Ludvigsen, there is a growing understanding of the fact that Norwegian exporters are subject to stricter conditions than other non-members. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
• A renegotiated EEA Agreement could solve the country’s salmon problems with the EU better than a new salmon agreement, according to former ‘salmon negotiator’ Torben Foss. A solution of this kind would mean the EU giving up its ability to impose anti-dumping measures in return for Norway’s acceptance of the EU’s fish market scheme. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• In future 10,000 Norwegians under 50 who are currently receiving incapacity benefits may be forced to reapply for their allowance every four years. The aim is to get more people back into the workforce. The first step in the Government’s measures to reduce poverty is a change in the social security system. The Government will present its proposals during the spring, and looks set to gain the backing of a majority in the Storting. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
• Yesterday Kjell Inge Røkke won an important battle in the North Sea. His company, Aker Maritime, was awarded the lucrative construction contract for the Kristin platform, worth NOK 5 billion. (Verdens Gang/Saturday)
• The number of narcotics seizures rose last year by over 20 per cent. Around 27,000 seizures were made in 2001, three times as many as in 1994. Arne Huuse, head of the National Bureau of Crime Investigation, has warned that the so-called ‘magnet effect’ could lead to increased recruitment to the drugs scene. He therefore wants to get the drug addicts off the streets. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• Last August 75 nurses arrived in Norway from the Baltic region. Their hopes were high and they were keen to start work. So far none of them has been authorized to work as a nurse in this country. Their training is not good enough. (Dagbladet/Saturday)
• Norsk Hydro has won an important contract, worth almost NOK 2 billion, from the German car maker, BMW. The contract is seen as a breakthrough for the use of aluminium in motor vehicle production. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• As many slot machines as possible and in the best possible locations. The Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue are two charitable heavyweights engaged in a bitter battle to squeeze out small voluntary organizations and grab as big a slice as possible of the lucrative gaming market. Last year Norwegians put around NOK 8 billion in the slot. (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

The Labour Party’s national executive committee meets today as the governing body of a party in disarray. The 114-year-old party is primarily in the grip of a political crisis, which will not be resolved even if the party, either today or in March, unites behind one particular form of leadership and clarifies who is going to assume the party’s highest offices. The Labour Party has been losing support among voters for a long time. Its membership figures have been falling and its grassroots organization is slowly ‘fossilizing’. A key explanation for this decline is that what used to be the Labour Party’s main task – to abolish poverty and create the welfare state – has largely been accomplished. The reason that some people end up at the back of the queue while others elbow their way to the front when society’s benefits are being distributed is more complicated than before. There are other reasons which explain why life is good or bad and whether people feel secure about the future or not. The Labour Party has not evolved good social democratic policies for a post-industrial, multicultural, welfare and knowledge-based society. It will take time for the Labour Party to emerge from its current political crisis. But the crisis could deepen even further if the party’s leaders do not agree on a sensible and clear-cut method for deciding the leadership issue, and continue to throw doubt on each other’s motives and engage in political trench warfare.