Progress Party far larger than ruling coalition (Aftenposten)

The Progress Party is far and away the country’s most popular party, according to the latest poll by Opinion. The party has surged ahead by 5.5 percentage points, bringing its support in the country to 32.9 per cent. "I feel extremely humble," said party chairman Carl I. Hagen. The poll signals a dramatic loss of voter confidence in the ruling coalition parties. The Conservatives drop 6.6 percentage points to end on 14.5 per cent. The Christian Democrats slide 1.7 points and now have the support of only 5.9 per cent of the electorate. The Liberals can muster the backing of only 1.4 per cent of those eligible to vote.

Hagen doubts Bondevik’s sincerity (Dagsavisen)

Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen does not believe Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik’s assurances that he will start negotiating with the Progress Party first. At the same time Mr Hagen has put a price tag on his budget demands – NOK 10 billion. "NOK 10 billion is less than one per cent of the country’s total economy, which amounts to more than NOK 1,300 billion. We are not asking for much," said Mr Hagen. The PM, on the other hand, thinks this figure is far too high. "There is broad agreement that if we spend an additional NOK 10 billion in the Norwegian economy it will lead to higher wages, higher prices, higher interest rates and the danger of a higher exchange rate. I do not want to be a party to sending the Norwegian people a bill of that kind," said Mr Bondevik during the debate in the Storting on the Government’s Speech from the Throne.

Progress Party ready to drop demand for more oil money (Verdens Gang)

The Progress Party is prepared to drop its demand for an increase in oil revenue spending if the Bondevik government accepts a large measure of its proposals on other key issues. Yesterday evening Siv Jensen indicated the possibility of budget negotiations within the framework laid down by the Bondevik government. "It is a matter of deciding which battles to fight," said Ms Jensen. She underlined that the Progress Party still believed there was room to spend more of the country’s oil revenues, but that it had accepted that it was the only party in the Storting to demand more oil revenue spending than the Government was proposing.

Hagen under attack from all sides (Dagbladet)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has dismissed the changes Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen wants to make in Norway, saying they would lead to "a society I do not want". Mr Hagen’s vision has been roundly condemned by all the other political parties. MPs from both the political left and right greeted his proposals with much head-shaking, laughter and direct opprobrium. "The Progress Party’s reforms are both general and superficial. Mr Hagen has selected just a few juicy titbits and is concealing the other side of the coin," said incoming Labour leader Jens Stoltenberg. Kristin Halvorsen, leader of the Socialist Left Party, described Mr Hagen’s Norway as tough and cold. Nor could Odd Roger Enoksen, leader of the Centre Party, or Trine Skei Grande, deputy leader of the Liberal Party, find anything positive to say about Mr Hagen’s vision. The PM believes the poor would be worse off and interest rates would rise.

PM threatened to demand a vote of confidence (Dagsavisen)

Yesterday Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik invited three parties to collaborate with the Government over the budget – before he threatened to demand a vote of confidence if he did not get the cooperation he was looking for. "The PM is desperate," said Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen. The chaos surrounding the budget and the fate of the minority coalition government continued during the second day of debate in the Storting on the Speech from the Throne. When Ms Halvorsen repeated her demand that the coalition government bring Mr Hagen on board in order to clarify who is responsible for the policies being pursued, the PM responded by threatening to demand a vote of confidence in his government. "We must govern on the basis of what we believe to be right and proper. If necessary we will put our foot down, as we have done before," said Mr Bondevik, adding that he hoped "someone" in the Storting would join him in taking responsibility for achieving a solution to the budget issue.

Petroleum Fund has lost NOK 83 billion on stock market (Klassekampen)

In the course of two years the Government Petroleum Fund has lost NOK 83 billion by investing in shares instead of bonds, according to Klassekampen’s own calculations. The newspaper has looked at the returns on investment achieved by the 40 per cent of the Petroleum Fund which is invested in shares, and compared the result with what the same money could have achieved if it had been invested in the bond market. The calculations show that the country has lost NOK 83 billion by choosing to play the stock market rather than investing in bonds. "In our opinion the level of risk which is deemed acceptable in the management of the Government Petroleum Fund is an extremely important political decision. In all the advice given by the Norwegian Central Bank about investing in shares, the risk is heavily emphasized. The risk aspect is described specifically and in detail," said Knut N. Kjær, head of the Norwegian Central Bank’s asset management department. Siv Jensen, who chairs the Storting’s Finance Committee, believes it is high time the Storting revised the Petroleum Fund’s investment guidelines.

Row over Spanish Statoil contract (Dagens Næringsliv)

Statoil’s recent decision to award a major contract to the Spanish offshore construction yard, Dragados, could be taken to the EU for a decision. Aker Kværner Egersund tendered an offer which was NOK 100 million more expensive than that supplied by their Spanish competitor, and the unions suspect that the Spaniards are receiving state subsidies. A few days ago Statoil awarded a contract worth NOK 300 million to Dragados. The yard is to build modules for the Kristin platform, a contract which was of life and death importance to Aker Kværner Egersund. "No one can explain the price difference," said Oddvar Hølland, senior union representative in Egersund. Representatives of the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions are currently in Brussels to discover what can be done. Depending on what they find out, the European Commission could be asked to overturn the decision.

1. Worth Noting

• "There has been much controversy over certain aspects of the budget. This is something we must take seriously. This is hard for the three coalition parties to cope with," said Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss believes it is important to keep a cool head. "The risky thing with bad opinion poll results is that they can tempt people to make quick fixes," warned Mr Foss.
  (Aftenposten)
• Royal Ahold has changed its tune and admits that Stein Erik Hagen is entitled to more money than the estimated market value of his shares if he sells them his stake in ICA Ahold. This could give Mr Hagen enough cash to take control of Orkla.
  (Aftenposten)
• Bravida has grown almost as large as its main shareholder, Telenor, and the company will soon be floated on the stock market. The acquisition of C.W. Obel’s electrical installation business makes Bravida far and away the largest installation and service provider in the Nordic region – assuming the deal is approved by the EU. Following the acquisition Bravida will have 15,000 people on its payroll.
  (Aftenposten)
• Fishermen’s earnings have been slashed so far this year. While many other employee groups have seen their salaries rise substantially, fishermen’s incomes have fallen by 10 per cent on average so far this year as a result of a sharp drop in the price of cod.
  (nrk.no)
• Åslaug Haga has made it clear that she will not be standing for leadership of the Centre Party to replace current party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen. The Centre Party has had a tough time following its poor showing at the last general election, and has been losing ground in the polls. Several sources within the party are now questioning whether Odd Roger Enoksen is the right man to win back support for the party. At this weekend’s national executive committee meeting, Mr Enoksen is expected to announce whether he will be stepping down as party leader at the Centre Party’s annual conference next spring.
  (Nationen)
• Norwegian electricity consumers can look forward to an expensive winter. Exports of electricity have been substantial, despite the fact that there has been little rain. This has resulted in empty reservoirs and high prices. From January until the end of August Norwegian electricity producers exported more than twice as much power as they have done on average over the past decade. In September prices rose by 5.6 per cent, and additional price rises are expected.
  (Dagsavisen)
• Passengers are shunning NSB, the state-owned railway company, which expects a drop in revenues of NOK 120 million by the end of the year. The company has now halted all new recruitment.
  (Aftenposten)
• Thousands of Norwegians trying to find out what their neighbours, friends and colleagues made in salary last year caused both NRK and VG’s websites to crash periodically yesterday. By 7 pm on Thursday VG Nett’s tax list pages had registered one million hits.
  (NTB)

2. Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

The Government was given a political pounding by a united opposition during the two-day debate in the Storting on the Speech from the Throne. Despite this, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik remained impressively unbowed. He hit back forcefully. Obviously addressing Carl I. Hagen, Mr Bondevik said that under no circumstances would he spend any more of the country’s oil revenues than the amount proposed in the budget. This was about as undisguised a threat to resign if pushed too far as it was possible to make without actually demanding a vote of confidence. The PM rejected all calls to bring the Progress Party into the Government. He was right to do so. Nor was Mr Bondevik particularly enamoured of the invitation to switch coalition partners issued by Labour’s Jens Stoltenberg and the Socialist Left Party’s Kristin Halvorsen. He should have been. The PM’s claim that the Government is still in a position to run the country does not hold water. Mr Bondevik’s minority coalition government has set sail on a hazardous journey which could end on the rocks. Throughout the debate on the Speech from the Throne there was a good tone between the Labour Party and the Socialist Left Party. For the first time since the Socialist Left Party’s predecessor, SF, was established in 1961 it looks as though the two left-wing parties could manage to put together a joint government alternative. For our part, we have claimed for many years – long before the two parties had begun to think the thought – that the parties of the political left and centre should join forces to form a counterpoint to the right. We are therefore happy that Kristin Halvorsen, Jens Stoltenberg and Odd Roger Enoksen have finally come around to our point of view. It is understandable that the Christian Democrats hesitate as long as they are part of the current ruling coalition. But one day, in the not too distant future, the days of the Bondevik government will be over. At that point Christian Democrats should use the opportunity to change sides. According to the opinion polls, the experiment of participating in a government along with the Conservatives and with the Progress Party’s gun to their heads is about to sink the Christian Democratic Party’s ship. The Labour Party, Socialist Left Party and Centre Party should therefore not turn their backs on the Christian Democrats.