PROGRESS PARTY TAKES THE LEAD - ALSO AMONG UNION MEMBERS (Aftenposten)

The Progress Party is Norway’s unquestionably largest political party, with 34.3 per cent of the electorate behind it. Labour continues its slide and is now down to 22 per cent, according to a poll taken by Opinion for Aftenposten. Even among union members, Progress leads in popularity, enjoying the support of nearly 40 per cent of this group. Voters point to Progress’s health and senior welfare profile, as well as dissatisfaction with other parties, as their foremost explanations. Progress and the Conservatives together are only one seat short of a parliamentary majority. If this poll were an election, the Progress Party would have more than doubled its representation in the Storting. "We will not be able to maintain these figures," says party chairman Carl I. Hagen, who believes the voters are using these surveys to punish the Labour Party.

VALUES COMMISSION RECOMMENDS INCREASE IN IMMIGRATION (Dagsavisen)

The Values Commission has thrown an explosive recommendation into the political debate. "We must open our borders for more immigration so that we can increase our population to around five million by 2030," says Prof. Reidar Almås. The Values Commission proposes an annual lottery among all who would like to come to Norway to work. "This is similar to a scheme previously used with some success by the USA," says Prof. Almås.

CHEAP MEAT WILL NOT COME FREE (Dagsavisen)

The Government will probably compensate for lower taxes on petrol, alcohol and meat by charging value-added taxes (VAT) on hotel and travel services, air, rail, bus, taxi and boat fares, real estate agent and lawyers’ fees, and admissions to cinemas, concerts, circuses and discotheques. The Government announced earlier this year that its budget would include amendments to the VAT tax scheme, basically aiming to widen the VAT tax base to include services.

NATIONAL NUTRITION COUNCIL CAUTIONS AGAINST CHEAPER MEAT (Aftenposten)

The National Council on Nutrition and Physical Activity sounds a warning in response to Minister of Agriculture Bjarne Håkon Hanssen’s announcement of measures to bring meat prices down. "Norwegians are eating more meat than ever, and it is not good for their health. Keep meat and dairy prices where they are," says council director Gunn-Elin Aa. Bjørneboe.

KVÆRNER STRIKES BACK (Aftenposten)

The Kværner administration would like the shareholders to adopt a rule at the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to be held later this month which would require Kjell Inge Røkke to buy out all other shareholders if his stake passes 30 per cent. The administration, reasoning that he would have difficulty financing a buyout on top of his recent buyup in Orkla, hopes to put the financial squeeze on Mr. Røkke.

HAGEN MAY HOLD KEY TO HEYERDAHL’S FALL (Dagens Næringsliv)

Supermarket chain owner Stein Erik Hagen may be able to topple Orkla chief Jens P. Heyerdahl. Mr. Hagen says he can provide proof that Skandia’s chief executive, Lars-Eric Petersson, has said that Mr. Heyerdahl controlled the Orkla stake sold by Skandia to Rabobank. "I will submit my documentation when I am called to testify," says Mr. Hagen.

WORTH NOTING

• A Norwegian officer who killed a Macedonian government minister in a car crash last summer has been sentenced by a Norwegian court to six months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The accident took place when the officer, serving as a captain in the Norwegian KFOR contingent, was driving the wrong way on a divided highway in Macedonia. The minister’s wife, daughter and driver were killed in the accident as well. (Aftenposten)
• The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) does not like the Value Commission’s latest recommendation and feels we must explore our own potential first. "There are 70,000 jobless in Norway, and many of them are immigrants. The government should do more to get them working," says LO secretary Liv Undheim. (Dagsavisen)
• "Carl I. Hagen is living in a dream world. Inflation and high interest rates will be the result if his economic theories are put into practice," says Jan Tore Klovland, professor of economics at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. (Dagsavisen)
• Kjell Magne Bondevik (Chr.Dem.) holds fast to his vision of another centrist coalition Government, despite Carl I. Hagen’s skyrocketing ratings and the general preoccupation with Labour and the Progress Party. Mr. Bondevik does not feel the Christian Democrats, the centist alliance nor himself are in a pinch. (Vårt Land)
• If the Sandman commission’s recommendations are followed, it will be more difficult to qualify for disability, and the system will keep a closer eye on welfare recipients. One measure proposed by the commission is that persons receiving disability benefits should undergo a complete physical checkup every four years to assess their fitness for work. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Problems continue to mount for the high-speed trains recently purchased by the Norwegian National Railway (NSB). The first signs of cracking in the axles of the Gardermoen airport shuttle trains have now been discovered. (Aftenposten)
• The Ministry of Finance still refuses to accept tax payments via net bank payment services. (Verdens Gang)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Vårt Land

It was recently reported from New York that Minister of Foreign Affairs Thorbjørn Jagland has dropped his efforts on behalf of Knut Vollebæk’s candidacy for UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The same day this news broke, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Mr. Vollebæk, who was Foreign Minister in Kjell Magne Bondevik’s Government, and other Scandinavians, were prominent candidates. This renowned newspaper observed that since the Nordic countries are major contributors to refugee work, their candidates should be taken seriously. Two Scandinavians have already held this post – Poul Hartling of Denmark and Thorvald Stoltenberg, father of our own Prime Minister. Considering the enthusiasm with which the international careers of Mr. Stoltenberg, Sr., and Gro Harlem Brundtland were furthered, the Government has been rather restrained about promoting Mr. Vollebæk’s candidacy. But then, it may be deemed wise in Labour quarters to lay low for awhile in case someone else may be looking for a high post in an international organization in the not-too-distant future.

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