Tug-of-war over refugees (Aftenposten)

People in a desperate situation can be very creative when it comes to finding new escape routes. One of these routes traverses the Indian Ocean to Australia. But Australia is now adopting an extremely restrictive approach in order to limit the increasing number of illegal immigrants arriving by boat. The Norwegian authorities do not consider that Norway is responsible for the refugees on board the Wilhelmsen ship according to international law. The Norwegian ship is lying 12 nautical miles off the Australian Christmas Island after having rescued 438 refugees in distress on Sunday night. However, Australia has refused to let the ship dock at the island, and the situation on board the Tampa is now "extremely worrying", according to the Wilh. Wilhelmsen shipping line. The 438 refugees on board the Norwegian ship Tampa have now started a hunger strike.

Ministry says refugees are not Norway’s responsibility (Aftenposten)

"According to international law Norway has no responsibility for the refugees. But we are working as hard as we can to come up with a solution," said Ministry of Foreign Affairs press spokesman Karsten Klepsvik to Aftenposten. Mr. Klepsvik says that it is out of the question for Norway to solve the dispute about the refugees on board the Tampa by sending them to Norway. "This is an important matter of principle," said Mr. Klepsvik. In his opinion, it is the Australian authorities who are responsible for the refugees.

Argument over sick pay during gala dinner (Verdens Gang)

While the gala dinner for HRH Crown Prince Haakon and HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit was under way at Akershus Castle on Friday evening, another drama, about the Labour Party’s secret proposal to cut sick pay, was also going on. During the festivities there was a confrontation between Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and president of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry Jens Ulltveit-Moe about the disclosures that were due to be printed the next day. The whole affair is extremely unwelcome for the inner circles of the Labour Party. It is even more embarrassing that Labour has referred to Minister of Labour and Government Administration Jørgen Kosmo’s secret proposal for reducing sick pay benefits as a "tax on illness". The Labour Party is very worried that the party’s strongest card in the run-up to the election, its fight against the Conservative Party’s proposal to cut sick pay, will be forfeited because of its bluff.

Labour approaching crisis (Verdens Gang)

After a few weeks of growing support for Labour, the party has now dropped three percentage points in a poll carried out by Norsk Gallup for Verdens Gang and TV2, and is now backed by 24.5 per cent of voters. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has now announced a possible crisis point for party support. "My absolute goal is for Labour to be the most popular party in the election," said Mr. Stoltenberg to Verdens Gang. However, the current polls indicate that the Conservatives have recaptured the number one spot, despite having dropped 0.5 percentage points to 25.5 per cent. For the Christian Democrats, however, the poll is very bad news. The party has dropped 1.5 percentage points to 9 per cent support. The only bright spot for the centrist alliance is that the Liberal Party has jumped ahead by 1.5 percentage points, placing it exactly on the four per cent borderline for a seat in the Storting.

Tønne is hypocritical (Nationen)

"The Labour Party and Minister of Health and Social Affairs Tore Tønne are saying one thing but doing another in the issue of the future of local hospitals," said both Olav Gunnar Ballo (Socialist Left) and Dagfinn Sundsbø (Centre). "Labour is giving the impression that it wants to protect the local hospitals, by saying that there are no plans to close them down. But in reality, Labour wants to close them down and replace them with specialized hospitals and other health institutions. I find this shocking," said Mr. Sundsbø. He is the chairman of the Akershus County health services committee, and was a member of the government committee that reviewed the tasks and responsibilities of the public administration, including who should own the hospitals. As we well know, the government, in the form of the Minister of Health and Social Affairs, will be taking over the hospitals on 1 January 2002.

Majority against gas-fired power plants (Dagens Næringsliv)

An opinion poll on gas-fired power plants shows that a majority is opposed to building them now. While 34 per cent of the population agrees with the Storting majority in wanting to build gas-fired power plants now, 35 per cent want to wait until new technology is available. At the same time, 15 per cent oppose these plants regardless of the kind of technology that is used, according to the survey carried out by Opinion for Dagens Næringsliv. "This is encouraging. A majority wants either to wait or is entirely against building the plants. The Storting majority does not have the support of a majority of the people," concluded prime minister candidate Kjell Magne Bondevik, who resigned as Prime Minister when the Storting opposed the Government in this issue in March of last year.

Worth noting

• Bishop Gunnar Stålsett’s speech to the newlyweds cannot be placed on a scale of liberal – conservative values, according to theologians who have talked to Vårt Land. Among the words used to describe the speech are "evangelical" and "courageous". Even Odd Sverre Hove, who is usually critical of Bishop Stålsett, is relatively satisfied. The Bishop’s speech at the wedding ceremony was under discussion as life began to return to normal in church circles yesterday after the excitement of recent events. (Vårt Land)
• Borgarting Court of Appeal has found KFOR Captain Audun Vestli innocent of involuntary manslaughter in the case of the four Macedonians who were killed in a road accident there in 1999. The accident cost the lives of Macedonian government minister Radovan Stoikovskim, his wife, their child and their private chauffeur. (Verdens Gang)
• "Only a new round of debate on Norwegian membership of the EU could improve the standing of the Centre Party", said political science professor Trond Nordby. He has told NTB that the party is dependent on this issue if it is to play a central role in Norwegian politics. (NTB)
• The three largest fisheries and aquaculture organizations are increasing their pressure on the Storting to stop the development of the Snøhvit gas field. They are demanding better environmental impact assessments. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Prices at day-care centres will be reduced. But Labour will not reveal how it intends to make public and private day-care centres halve their prices until after the election. (Aftenposten)
• The police will probably investigate Finn Radmann’s import of nurses from the Baltic countries. The Ministry of Justice has already begun investigating his activities. (Aftenposten)
• The parties contesting the estate of Anders Jahre have raised their settlement offer to NOK 900 million. "We are closer now to a settlement than ever before," said estate manager Even Wahr-Hansen. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Advertising income is dropping drastically for Internet news services. The major newspapers are losing millions. But news on the Internet is very popular among readers. (Aftenposten)
• The Parliamentary Ombudsman may dismiss the controversial adoption case in Møre og Romsdal county, in which Minister of Children and Family Affairs Karita Bekkemellom Orheim reversed a decision taken by the Governmental Office for Youth and Adoption. (NTB)

Today's comment from Verdens Gang:

After three days during which politics took a back seat to the royal wedding, the final and decisive round of the election campaign is starting. Some people feel that Labour had most to lose during the pause. Labour was going strong, and may have lost momentum. Today’s public opinion poll for Verdens Gang and TV2 seems to corroborate this viewpoint. It shows that Labour’s upswing has been brought to a standstill, and that the Conservative Party is again on top. But perhaps Labour profited from the fact that the weekend was devoted to love requited instead of the hard realities of life, pushing the disclosure of Labour’s sick pay scheming into the background. Labour’s attack on the Conservative proposal for cuts in sick pay benefits has been the party’s trump card in the election campaign so far. Jens Stoltenberg has managed to present the proposal as the ultimate proof that the Conservatives plan to finance their promise to cut taxes by reducing welfare benefits for the weakest members of society. One reason why he has succeeded is that a hesitant Jan Petersen has not managed to persuade Labour to explain how the party intends to reduce absence due to sickness which is so costly for the Government. Now it appears that the Government itself has been working on the same ideas as the Conservative Party. Mr. Stoltenberg made a bold move in attacking the Conservatives without reservations, and now he is paying the price. He has lost credibility in one of his most powerful campaign issues. Given his fondness for reform, it is hardly surprising that Mr. Stoltenberg is considering making changes in this area. It would have been more surprising if Labour had intended to keep the entire system intact. But in his pleasure at having placed the Conservatives on the defensive, Mr. Stoltenberg went too far, and put his own head on the chopping block. Now he has to beat an embarrassing retreat.