Conservatives neck and neck (Dagsavisen)

Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen is well pleased with a new opinion poll by AC Nielsen which indicates the Conservatives have the support of 23.1 per cent of the electorate, a jump of 4.2 percentage points. Support for the Labour Party drops 5.3 percentage points to 26.9 percent. However, the most interesting thing to emerge from the poll is that the Conservatives are about to pass the combined support for the centre alliance parties. Together, the Christian Democrats, Liberals and the Centre Party have the backing of 23.7 per cent of the voters. If this trend continues the prospective centre alliance coalition is dead and the Labour Party will be out of government after this autumn’s election.

Solid majority against EU membership (Nationen)

According to Nationen’s May poll, over 55 per cent of the population are opposed to EU membership. 10 per cent of Conservative voters and 28 per cent of Liberal voters have made up their minds to reject EU membership since the April poll. Today, only 8.6 per cent of the population have taken sides on EU membership.

Cut in number of regional public prosecutor’s offices (Aftenposten)

A government appointed committee has just published a discussion document on the public prosecution service in which it recommends a number of changes designed to improve efficiency. Public prosecutors in Agder county handled on average 642 cases each last year, while the average in Hordaland was "just" 323. These are often the most difficult cases, involving hundreds of pages of documentation. The committee has proposed that the number of public prosecutors be increased by 10 and that several regional public prosecutor’s offices be merged into larger units. This means that if the Government gets its way four regional public prosecutor’s offices could disappear.

New top-level meeting on Storebrand (Aftenposten)

Representatives from Den norske Bank (DnB) and the Government Bank Investment Fund met yesterday with Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen to discuss Storebrand. "This was a briefing on the current situation," explained Jan Willy Hopland, chief executive of the Government Bank Investment Fund. He declined to make any further comment.

Norsk Hydro boss attacks political meddling (Dagens Næringsliv)

Eivind Reiten, Director General of Norsk Hydro, is highly critical of Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen’s publicly stated wish to keep Storebrand in Norwegian hands. "The Companies Act and the Storting have clearly established guidelines which mean that neither government ministers nor any other politicians can expect to exercise their rights as shareholders against the wishes of the company itself," said Mr Reiten in a speech in Bergen yesterday.

Pressured into sell-off (Dagens Næringsliv)

Trade and Industry Minister Grete Knudsen will today propose to the Storting that the state reduce its shareholding in Telenor. Ms Knudsen’s proposal comes as a result of pressure from Telenor’s chief executive, Tormod Hermansen, and the company’s chairman, Eivind Reiten. "We have indicated that we have no difficulty in supporting a cut in state ownership to 34 per cent," said the Conservatives’ trade and industry spokesman, Ansgar Gabrielsen. The Government’s proposal therefore has the backing of a majority in the Storting.

Worth Noting

• The latest opinion poll by AC Nielsen shows a substantial difference between men and women voters. Women largely support the Labour Party, while more men choose the Conservatives and the Progress Party. (Dagsavisen)
• In the past year Norwegian small investors have become less keen on buying shares, according to a recent poll by MMI. The most probable reason is the turbulence on the stock market in recent months. (Dagbladet)
• The meeting to formally establish ATTAC Norge yesterday was dominated by arguments over the articles of association, personality clashes and fundamental political disagreement. Over 700 people attended last night’s meeting in Oslo. (Aftenposten)
• The Christian Democrats came under fierce attack when the Storting debated the Government’s report on homosexuality yesterday. The criticism was prompted by the Christian Democrats’ support for research into the causes of homosexuality, while they have refused to back a resolution rejecting the idea of a "cure". (Aftenposten)
• There is finally a glimmer of hope for house-buyers. House prices dipped slightly in May, though not by much. According to the estate agents, Postbankens Eiendomsmegling, house prices fell by 2.5 per cent. Postbankens Eiendomsmegling is the only nationwide estate agency to track prices on a month by month basis. (Verdens Gang)
• The Storting voted on Thursday to make it easier for parents to apply for partial exemption from the religious studies part of the primary school curriculum for their children. The vote came during the Storting’s debate to evaluate the four-year-old religious studies syllabus. (Vårt Land)
• It all started in 1982 with a single Alaskan trawler bought for USD 75,000. In the 19 years since then Kjell Inge Røkke estimates that this investment has grown to NOK 12 billion. (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

The polls continue to make pleasant reading for the Conservatives, while the slide continues for the Labour Party and the centre parties. At the moment Jan Pedersen looks like being the next Prime Minister. Who would have thought that a month ago? Jan Pedersen and the Conservatives mainly have Carl I. Hagen’s political suicide attempt to thank for their improved position. Without the Progress Party’s internal strife, Mr Hagen’s party would guaranteed be larger than Mr Pedersen’s. In periods when the political right is growing in strength, the Conservatives gain when the Progress Party loses – and vice versa. Will the Conservatives be able to keep it up until the election, or will power slip through their hands as it has done before when the party has been advancing? That is a question it is impossible to answer with any degree of certainty. Not least because it depends on how the other parties choose to meet the Conservative challenge. In hindsight it is easy to see that it was not particularly wise of the Labour leadership to try and frighten the voters with May Day speeches demonizing Jan Pedersen. Carl I. Hagen is a threat to the Labour movement, but nice Mr Pedersen makes a poor ogre – even on that particular day. Jan Pedersen could become Prime Minister if the election results make the Conservatives the largest party in the Storting, since the Labour Party cannot continue in office with an election result of just over 26 per cent. There is still time to stop the Conservatives’ advance, but time is running out.