Conservatives publish false pledge on high-income surtax (Dagsavisen)

This weekend the Conservatives will start distributing 200,000 leaflets including a pledge to completely abolish the high-income surtax. But Conservative Party chairman Jan Petersen has a different story. "I cannot promise to abolish the surtax, but we shall come a long way towards that aim," he said. The surtax pledge is also due to appear in newspaper advertisements, which state ‘The Conservatives will abolish the high-income surtax on ordinary wages’. The Government stands to lose revenues worth NOK 16 billion if the surtax is abolished completely.

Christian Democrats hesitant over demands on Conservative Party (Nationen)

Christian Democrat leader Valgerd Svarstad Haugland is refusing to be specific about the demands her party will make on the Conservatives, but has described their proposed tax cuts as astronomical. "We have promised tax cuts of between NOK 12-13 billion, but we want to ensure we have full compensation for those cuts. The Conservatives’ proposed tax cuts are astronomical, and the voters have a right to know how they propose the cover the shortfall," said Ms Svarstad Haugland.

Conservatives attempt an explanation (Aftenposten)

Per-Kristian Foss yesterday attempted to clear away any misunderstandings about the Conservatives’ manifesto promises. In an interview with Aftenposten, Mr Foss made it clear that the general tax level will be NOK 40 billion lower in 2005 compared with today. "Jan Petersen has said this before," stated Mr Foss. But Jan Petersen and his party colleagues have not always been clear about the NOK 40 billion, and he remains ambiguous. "NOK 40 billion is just an illustration of the size of the cuts we must make to bring us close to EU levels. The figure is not a specific promise," said Mr Petersen.

Labour bluffing over gas-fired power stations (Dagbladet)

In a letter to Kjell Magne Bondevik and the other centre alliance leaders in the Storting, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has made it clear he can make no promises regarding the construction of pollution-free gas-fired power stations. The only thing he can promise is the building of a pilot plant by 2006. The objective of the pilot plant will be to test the feasibility of constructing pollution-free power stations. But in the meantime gas-fired power stations will be built without CO ₂ elimination. Mr Stoltenberg’s letter puts the PM at odds with the report on climate change which Environment Minister Siri Bjerke presented on 22 June. "The Labour Party is guilty of double-talk on this issue. Trying to ride two horses at the same time is a hopeless policy," said Kjell Magne Bondevik.

Solid majority still opposed to EU membership (Nationen)

If a referendum had been held today, 54.2 per cent of the population would have voted against EU membership, while 37.2 per cent would have voted for. Supporters of EU membership have strengthened their position by 2.4 percentage points since the last poll, and are once again in the majority in Oslo. Only 0.1 per cent have gone over to the ‘don’t know’ group, which now stands at 8.6 per cent of those polled.

Conservatives pull away from Labour (Aftenposten)

An opinion poll carried out by market research company, Opinion, during the first three days of this week shows that the Labour Party has so far had little success with the ‘IOU’ it presented to the voters on Monday. With the backing of 22.7 per cent of the electorate, the party is practically on a level with the June poll figures. Labour’s main opponent, on the other hand, continues its forward march. The Conservatives gained 1.8 percentage points, putting them on 30.1 per cent – the highest level Opinion has ever recorded for the party. The biggest losers were the Socialist Left Party, which dropped 1.8 percentage points, while the Centre Party gained 1.4 percentage points.

SAS under fire (Dagens Næringsliv)

Harald Norvik is fighting for survival as chairman of SAS, as the anti-trust scandal continues to rock the airline. An independent inquiry will shortly be set up to look into the board’s handling of the affair. Harald Norvik, who became SAS chairman on 8 May this year but who was a board member prior to that, is willing to resign if the inquiry concludes that the board has not done its job properly.

Worth noting

• "I do not think the Conservatives will be the largest party in the Storting after the election, even though the party will probably do well," said Labour Party deputy chairman Hill-Marta Solberg. (Aftenposten)
• In the continuing debate over taxes the Conservatives are now promising that no one with a salary of ‘up to’ NOK 400,000 will have to pay the high-income surtax. The price tag for this promise is around NOK 7 billion. But the Conservatives will neither confirm the threshold level or how much it will cost, nor indicate where they plan to take the money from to pay for it. (Verdens Gang)
• Health Minister Tore Tønne has said he would like to see a UN convention against human cloning. A ban would probably receive widespread support, since every country either has existing laws banning the cloning of human beings, or is in the process of adopting such legislation. (Aftenposten)
• Who will win the first major battle of this year’s election campaign? This evening’s duel between Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Conservative prime ministerial candidate Jan Petersen is the first televised debate of the campaign, and is expected to draw a large viewing audience. (Dagbladet)
• In 1985 SAS was forced to pay NOK 20 million in fines for having participated in illegal price fixing with other airlines in an effort to undermine the cut-price airline, Laker Airways. (Verdens Gang)
• "The independent inquiry will reveal if the board of SAS can be blamed for the airline’s market manipulation activities," said Transport Minister Terje Moe Gustavsen. (Verdens Gang)
• 28 oil companies have joined the battle to purchase state-owned oil and gas assets worth around NOK 12 billion. The negotiations are getting underway now and will be completed before the end of the year. Those companies which already have major activities in the Norwegian offshore sector are expected to be the ones granted a stake. (Aftenposten)
• Tom Ruud, who currently holds a senior post with Nordea, has refused to comment on rumours that he could become Orkla’s new chairman. If he does take the job, he will become Orkla’s fourth chairman in under a year. (Aftenposten)
• Fish is boring, according to Norwegian teenagers. The Norwegian Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture has interviewed 1,200 teenagers about their attitudes to fish, and the results are depressing. On average the youngsters eat fish 1.5 times a week, but they much prefer tacos and pizza. (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

With an average rating of 22.3 per cent from six nationwide opinion polls in June, the Labour Party started the summer holiday season badly damaged. In a desperate attempt to get the party back on its feet, both Labour chairman Thorbjørn Jagland and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg have maintained a higher profile and have made more attempts to set the public agenda during the summer than the other parties’ font runners. But their efforts have been in vain. One poll showing a drop in support, one showing no movement and one indicating an improvement which was probably more due to statistical adjustments than political realities simply cannot be explained away. The Labour Party has seen the writing on the wall – and it says that voter confidence in Labour has sunk lower than the party leadership has dared to admit, even to itself. It is quite clear, at any rate, that the Labour Party’s recent, tangible promises have not given them a lift. And it is doubtful whether they have anything to gain from promises made at a later stage. The Labour Party is too poorly prepared for its new incarnation as the country’s second largest party in poll after poll, just one month before the election. The Labour Party’s apparatchiks have little training in running an election campaign without being able to sell the party as being the ‘biggest and best’.