The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Oslo Press Division

Norway Daily No. 59/00

Date: 23 March 2000

STOLTENBERG CALLS FOR PUBLIC SECTOR RENEWAL (NTB)

In his inaugural address to the Storting yesterday Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg focussed heavily on rejuvenating the public sector. He also gave notice of a more active European policy. Mr. Stoltenberg stated that the public sector is there to serve everyone, but it cannot do everything. His inaugural address, which took a little over 15 minutes, was shorter than many were expecting. In his first meeting with the Storting as Prime Minister, he presented the Government’s ambitions in general terms without offering a single specific proposal.

CONSERVATIVES UPBEAT, CENTRE CRITICAL (NTB)

The centrist coalition promises the new Government a fight from day one. Kjell Magne Bondevik, the coalition’s leader in opposition, makes it clear that the coalition will not hesitate to confront the Stoltenberg Government over initiatives it cannot accept. Progress and the Conservatives were comparatively positive in their comments and expressed an interest in seeing what sort of proposals are forthcoming from Mr. Stoltenberg’s promised renewal of the public sector. The Socialist Left believes it will be necessary for the Government to collaborate with the Socialist Left and the political centre in order to curb the influence of the Progress and Conservative parties.

STOLTENBERG CONDEMNS EXECUTIVE AVARICE (Dagsavisen)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg condemned the greed of Norwegian business leaders after it became known yesterday that senior executive pay has gone up nearly 38 per cent in the past two years. Pay raises of this magnitude are extremely unwise. They undermine the spirit of cooperation that has sustained our national income policy, he says. A Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) survey indicates that eight out of ten Norwegians agree.

MINISTER OF HEALTH SHOWS HIS MUSCLES (Dagbladet)

Minister of Health Tore Tønne has demonstrated that he is now in charge of the Norwegian health care sector. On Monday he turned down Director General of Health Anne Alvik’s request to appoint a substitute board of health to handle the euthanasia case currently in the news. But he granted her six months’ leave of absence yesterday. Ms. Alvik wishes to be relieved of the responsibility for this case, and there was no problem granting her request. I will now discuss her immediate plans with her, says Mr. Tønne.

LILLETUN APPROVES CHURCH SCHOOLS AFTER THE BELL (Aftenposten)

Former Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs Jon Lilletun granted official approval to five Christian private schools just a few days before he stepped down. This took place after the Bondevik Government had lost its vote of confidence in the Storting and was therefore acting as a caretaker Government. Aftenposten’s commentator observed that Mr. Lilletun could hardly have found a more controversial decision to hand down after his time was up. A minister in a caretaker Government should have the sense to leave decisions of this nature to his successor no matter how much it hurts.

ARAFAT CRITICIZED (Dagbladet)

An internal Foreign Ministry memo is highly critical of Yasser Arafat’s administration of Gaza and the Western Bank. Norway will now conduct a full review of its aid to the Palestinian National Authority. We wish to influence developments in a democratic direction, says State Secretary Mona Juul.

WORTH NOTING

• Kjell Magne Bondevik, now leader of the coalition in opposition, says the coalition will not shrink from a confrontation with the Government. He adds that the three coalition parties will honour their commitment to the budget compromise from last autumn. (Vårt Land)
• Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg did not waste any time setting his Government’s big project in motion. Immediately after delivering his inaugural address to the Storting, he informed the Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees of his intention to streamline the public sector. (Verdens Gang)
• Greed is a problem! replied Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg yesterday to questions from Dagbladet’s readers concerning Statoil chief Harald Norvik’s bloated golden handshake. Minister of Petroleum and Energy Olav Akselsen is even more blunt: I am appalled by the duration and magnitude of this severance agreement, says Mr. Akselsen. (Dagbladet)
• Prof. Bernt T. Oftestad of the Free Faculty of Theology (MF) in Oslo must stop teaching after converting to Roman Catholicism, but he will continue to draw his salary. He stands to receive NOK 4 million between now and retirement age. (Vårt Land)
• Norwegian IT executives are selling equity hand over fist. In less than three weeks, board members and directors of listed IT companies have sold nearly NOK 200 million worth of equities. (Verdens Gang)
• According to a recent study, every second resident of Oslo has been sufficiently mentally ill to qualify for a psychiatric diagnosis. The relevant mental conditions include depression, social phobias and other problems. (Dagbladet)
• Banks and other finance institutions hesitate to grant loans to women intending to start their own businesses, despite the fact that the bankruptcy rate among woman-owned businesses is much lower than among enterprises owned and managed by men. (Dagsavisen)
• It is becoming increasingly common for farmers to hire machine contractors. 36,000 farmers availed themselves of machine contractors’ services last year. Another 21,000 farmers have joined machine rings. (Nationen)
• Northern Norway is being snowed under, western Norway is being rained out, but the sun is shining in the southeast. (Verdens Gang)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Nationen and Dagens Næringsliv

The tone of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s inaugural address was surprisingly accommodating, but Labour has made its views so clear that we stand by our previous conclusion that it is only in word that this Government is prepared to collaborate with the political centre. On fundamental issues, it is just as close to the Conservatives. This is particularly noticeable when the Government starts discussing issues in terms of modernization, privatization, internationalization and EU accommodation. Labour’s leaders often make a common cause with Conservatives in this area, opposed by the parties of the political centre. (Nationen)

Rationalization of the public sector in Norway is similar to the war on drugs or the goal of maintaining a populated countryside. Most politicians favour it, but few actually do anything effective about it. In aspiring to streamline the bureaucracy, criticizing strong state control and calling for more production and less administration in public services, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s inaugural address echoes most Norwegian Governments for the past 20 years. Ever since the Willoch Government in 1981, the demand for increased simplicity and efficiency in the public sector has been repeated time without number. The problem is that despite the politicians’ espousal of simplicity, they keep passing reforms which require a growing number of civil servants to administer. (Dagens Næringsliv)