Hågensen proposed as candidate for Labour leader (Aftenposten)

For the first time an alternative candidate to Thorbjørn Jagland and Jens Stoltenberg has been proposed for the Labour leadership job – former president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, Yngve Hågensen. The proposal comes from Reiulf Steen, the experienced, free-thinking but controversial party veteran. "I believe Yngve Hågensen is the best candidate," said Mr Steen.

Berntsen thought to have put the squeeze on Stoltenberg (Dagsavisen)

It is thought that last weekend Thorbjørn Berntsen exerted considerable personal pressure on Jens Stoltenberg in an attempt to get him to withdraw his candidacy for the Labour leadership. Mr Berntsen denies the claim. However, in yesterday’s Dagbladet Mr Berntsen admitted that he had had a conversation with Mr Stoltenberg two weeks ago in which he asked Mr Stoltenberg to pull out of the leadership race. But Mr Stoltenberg stuck to his position and after Monday’s national executive committee meeting repeated that he will give his answer to the selection committee.

Berntsen slammed over comments (Aftenposten)

Reactions to Thorbjørn Berntsen’s criticism of Jens Stoltenberg have come thick and fast. The fact that Mr Berntsen called on Mr Stoltenberg to pull out of the Labour leadership race has been described as both disrespectful, insensitive and tasteless. "Mr Berntsen’s comments are so stupid that he must have been working on them for a long time. His statement is as stupid as me saying that Thorbjørn Jagland should have pulled out to save the party and himself from all these strains," said Ronald Bye, former Labour party secretary.

Growing number want one Labour leader (Dagens Næringsliv)

Another Labour branch committee is now calling for the party to unite behind one leader. Senior Labour officials expect more such resolutions. Illness does not end leadership debates or resolutions in the Labour Party. Yesterday the party’s Vest-Agder County branch added its support for power at the top being gathered in one pair of hands. "What we have commented on is the issue of divided leadership or not divided leadership. We have published our view on this, but we are abiding by the rules of the game when it comes to individual names," said Tom Rune Thorvaldsen, chairman of the Vest-Agder branch. He emphasized that the choice of individual was a matter for the party’s selection committee.

Stoltenberg not a stand-in (Dagsavisen)

Jens Stoltenberg, the Labour Party’s deputy leader, has ‘definitely not’ been appointed as stand-in for chairman Thorbjørn Jagland during Mr Jagland’s sick leave. "We view Thorbjørn’s illness as being so temporary that the question is simply irrelevant. The ongoing situation is currently being managed by the rest of the party leadership, but it is Thorbjørn Jagland who is chairman of the Norwegian Labour Party," said party secretary Martin Kolberg in an interview with Dagsavisen.

Will not make up his mind (Nationen)

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen is refusing to make up his mind about whether there should be one or two referenda on the issue of EU membership. "He is looking for margins, just like all the other supporters of EU membership," claims the Centre Party’s Åslaug Haga. She raised the issue of the number of EU referenda during question time in the Storting yesterday. "The Foreign Minister has said he wants one referendum before any new EU membership application is made. Will the Minister also pledge himself to holding another referendum when the results of the negotiations are known," was what Ms Haga wanted to know and Mr Petersen certainly did not want to say. He underlined the fact that the question of EU membership was not on the Government’s agenda, and that a referendum was something that lay far ahead in time.

LO abandons education reform (Aftenposten)

In-service training and further education have had a key place in the demands made by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) during every round of annual national wage negotiations since 1996. But the signs are now that the LO leadership recognizes it has lost the battle. Several key sources have confirmed to Aftenposten that this spring wage and pension demands have been given higher priority than in-service training and further education on the LO’s list of demands to employers. The LO has previously announced it would bring pressure to bear to get its education reform completed in 2002, but the issue is being given a low priority in this spring’s negotiations.

Worth Noting

• "The Labour Party leadership battle has developed into an exercise in meaningless political hara-kiri," says history professor Knut Kjeldstadli. He believes there are clear factions within the party, but that the two candidates for party leader do not represent different political programmes. (Klassekampen)
• The modern equivalent of Norway’s wartime resistance fighters, the army reservists serving in the Norwegian Home Guard, are about to experience a renaissance in the wake of September 11. They could become the backbone of Norway’s anti-terrorism contingency plan. A committee has proposed doubling the length of time soldiers are conscripted into the Home Guard. The Storting is due to debate the country’s emergency response structure during the spring. (Aftenposten)
• Agriculture Minister Lars Sponheim has accused farmers of exploiting the system of agricultural subsidies. "They don’t feel they have anything to gain from making a profit," he declared in the Storting’s debating chamber yesterday. Mr Sponheim was primarily targeting his anger at dairy farmers. Farms with herds of 13-14 cows must be eliminated, warned Mr Sponheim. (Nationen)
• The Government has said that all schoolchildren must continue to learn the ten commandments. After two weeks in office the Government had proposed watering down this demand. "The ten commandments are part of our basic core of knowledge, just like multiplication tables. This is something all children must learn – regardless," said State Secretary Helge Ole Bergesen (Con) in an interview with Vårt Land. (Vårt Land)
• Kjell O. Kran, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports, is not satisfied with the answers he has received from IOC president Jacques Rogge. The Olympic Committee’s anti-doping efforts are not under control. "We are both unhappy over the IOC’s handling of the issue and unsure how doping tests will be carried out during the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. The whole thing seems exceptionally badly organized," said Mr Kran. (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

It is enough to make you wonder whether Thorbjørn Berntsen’s feelings have got the better of him. Yesterday’s call to the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Jens Stoltenberg, to pull out of the leadership race out of consideration for Mr Jagland’s health does no favours for the Labour Party, Thorbjørn Jagland or Jens Stoltenberg. Mr Berntsen, himself a former deputy leader of the Labour Party and a man who has also been involved a leadership battle, should be the first to understand that Mr Jagland’s collapse should not be brought into the debate on the party’s future leadership. However, the incident is a reminder for us all that life at the political top can be extremely tough, particularly when one’s own party is wracked by internal disputes. But that is no argument for sweeping disagreements under the carpet or blaming the media. Conflict is in the very nature of politics. Sooner or later it will come to the surface and develop into open hostilities which will be fought out in the media. When that happens it is important that those individuals who seek power and influence also know their physical and mental limits.