Free fall for Jens (Nationen)

In just one month Jens Stoltenberg and the Labour Party have lost 66,000 voters, according to the latest poll carried out by Sentio-Norsk Statistikk on behalf of Nationen. Only 20 per cent of the electorate now supports the Labour Party, which is almost 17 percentage points lower than the 36.9 per cent minimum that then Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland set before the last election for continued Labour government. The party did not get the 36.9 per cent and Mr Jagland chose to resign from office. The winner now is the Conservative Party, which has the backing of 30.6 per cent of the electorate. The alarm bells must be ringing louder and louder for Labour Party, whose plight is becoming increasingly dramatic. The party is attempting to force voters to choose between maintaining welfare benefits and filling their own pocketbooks. So far the electorate has remained deaf to the Labour Party’s appeals.

Calls for Conservatives to spell out EU policy (Dagsavisen)

The European Movement in Norway, an organization which supports Norwegian membership of the EU, is demanding to know what kind of EU policy a centre-right government will pursue. But Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen has few clear announcements to make. "A coalition between the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats could lead to paralysis on issues relating to the EU," says Sigurd Grytten, Labour MP and leader of the European Movement in Norway. He points out that it is not simply a question of whether or not Norway will reapply for membership during the Storting’s next term. A potential centre-right government’s policies on the EEA Agreement, the EU’s expansion eastwards and the Schengen Agreement are also important, he says.

Norway and Iceland disagree over EEA revision (Aftenposten)

Preparations continue for a future "upgrading" of the EEA Agreement. Norway and Iceland disagree on the right approach to take in relation to the EU. The two countries have differing opinions on what tactics the EEA countries within EFTA should choose in order to change the EEA Agreement without having to renegotiate its entire rule book. It is unclear whether it is even possible to do so.

Petersen wants to get Norway on the ball (Dagbladet)

"If we are to succeed in getting Norway on the ball, our tax system cannot be completely different to everyone else’s. That is why we have to get the level of taxes down," says Conservative chairman Jan Petersen. According to the Labour Party, the Conservatives’ only vision at the moment is to cut taxes. But Mr Petersen rejects the notion that the Conservative Party is only concerned with money. This is his vision of a Conservative society. "It is a society in which the individual’s efforts and family responsibilities are the most important thing. Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand. It is a nation on the ball, a more flexible society where people have a greater say over their day-to-day lives," says Mr Petersen.

Protecting their own jobs (Dagsavisen)

Public service employees are opposed to privatization primarily because they fear losing their own jobs, according to a survey carried out by market research company MMI on behalf of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO). Only one in five thinks about those who use the public services they provide. The NHO has joined the election campaign with its claim that the public service sector has grown to large. "The public service sector is winning the struggle to attract employees. The private sector is withering away," says Kristin Clemet, NHO’s deputy chief executive. Ms Clemet is calling for the wide-ranging privatization of public services.

Employees rob their own companies (Aftenposten)

One in three companies has been the victim of fraud, computer crime, money laundering or corruption during the past two years. And in 60 per cent of cases it is the company’s own employees who are responsible. The majority of companies report fraud to the police. According to recently published figures from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Norway is among the countries worst hit by white-collar crime.

Worth Noting

• Former Norwegian foreign minister Thorvald Stoltenberg was yesterday elected chairman of the controversial Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). A recent report by independent consultants was highly critical of the institute’s board and management. (Aftenposten)
• The PM’s messenger got a hostile welcome from the country’s northern rebels last night. "You’re not so badly off, and in any case things would be much worse with a Conservative government," was chief-of-staff Jonas Gahr Støre’s message to the Nordland Rebellion. But he was given short shrift. (Dagbladet)
• Land prices in Oslo are so high that it is practically impossible to build housing within the maximum price limits set by the Norwegian State Housing Bank for its new no-deposit mortgage scheme for first-time buyers. "It is quite simply naïve," says Martin Mælund, of the housing association, OBOS.
• President of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO), Jens Ulltveit-Moe, has invested over NOK 35 million in Statoil shares, and is the company’s largest private investor by a clear margin. He does not believe his investment will lead to his impartiality being questioned. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• "It is first and foremost women and older employees who make use of today’s sick leave scheme. Proposals to cut sick pay benefits are therefore really proposals for a tax on women," says Children and Family Affairs Minister Karita Bekkemellem Orheim. She wants the Labour Party to focus on fighting the Conservatives during the election campaign. (Aftenposten)
• The fight against AIDS is best fought by focusing on simple, preventive measures, says Minister for Development Cooperation Anne Kristin Sydnes. Ms Sydnes has reacted sharply to the criticism targeted at the UN’s AIDS strategy by Morten Rostrup, international president of the charity, Medecins sans Frontieres. (Aftenposten)
• Orkla’s Corporate Assembly will in all probability vote today to publish the whole of the report from the inquiry into chief executive Jens P. Heyerdahl’s role in the controversial sale of Skandia’s shares in Orkla. Up to now the report has been classified as secret. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• After one hour’s work Norwegians can on average buy 13.9 litres of petrol. Only the Danes work less to fill their petrol tanks. (Dagbladet)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

With the wisdom borne out of their defeats at the last two general elections, the Conservatives are taking nothing for granted in the run-up to the election in September. However, when party chairman Jan Petersen summed up this last parliamentary term at a press conference yesterday, he did not hide the fact that the Conservatives are ready to take office. The Conservative Party’s goal is a coalition with the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. It does not worry the party that it will be unable to fulfil its tax promises in a coalition of that kind because in its annual alternative budgets it can document that the Conservatives have always found room for billions in tax cuts. The Conservatives’ reply to the undecided voter is that the chances for tax cuts are greater the more Conservative Party representatives are returned to the Storting. We are entering a campaign where the slogan "taxes and schools" could prove effective. Voters are switching sides as never before, it is true, and anything can happen. It is unlikely that the election result will be the same as the opinion polls currently indicate. The only thing the Conservatives have to say about what kind of government may be formed after the election is that its objective is to create as broad a non-socialist coalition as possible. There is little doubt that the Conservative Party is in a position to realize that goal, for the first time since Jan P. Syse became prime minister in 1989.