Go-ahead for Bondevik (Dagsavisen)

Kjell Magne Bondevik will today be given the task of forming a new government. Last night Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen phoned Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and told him to pack his bags. "We are looking forward to getting started," said Kjell Magne Bondevik after receiving the Progress Party’s go-ahead. However, he has made it crystal clear that he will not be making room in the coalition for the Progress Party later in the parliamentary term. "Almost 30 years of wandering in the political wilderness is now over for Carl I. Hagen. The first Conservative/Christian Democrat/Liberal government in the history of Norway has brought Mr Hagen and the Progress Party in from the cold," says our editorial.

Hagen’s planned coup d’état (Dagbladet)

Kjell Magne Bondevik may be forced to choose between inviting the Progress Party to join the coalition or being brought down by Carl I. Hagen. The Progress Party’s strategy is to put so much pressure on the coalition partners that they cannot bear to have Mr Hagen on the outside. Mr Hagen denies that the party will demand a place in the cabinet later in the parliamentary term. But Dagbladet has learned of key aspects of the Progress Party’s strategy, which is designed to force the Bondevik government to invite the party into the coalition. This autumn Carl I. Hagen will be content with symbolic victories in the budget negotiations. But his press conference message was quite plain: the new government will get a one year trial period. This statement contains more than a simple wish for political influence. Kjell Magne Bondevik will see the Progress Party issue an ultimatum – give the Progress Party a place in the cabinet or be forced out of office.

Christian Democrats unwise (Aftenposten)

"Mr Bondevik abandoned the centre alliance alternative too quickly," said former Christian Democrat MP Randi Karlstrøm. She fears her own party will lose support. "You can easily get the impression that this government will be more dependent on the Progress Party than on Labour or the Socialist Left Party. It is unwise of the Christian Democrats to give more concessions to the Progress Party than to the two other parties. The new government’s strength should be that it can cooperate on three different fronts in the Storting," she said. During the previous parliamentary term, Ms Karlstrøm was probably the Christian Democrat MP who warned most strongly against cooperating with the Conservatives.

Petersen slams Jagland’s new position (Aftenposten)

The Socialist Left Party and the Progress Party have described as "messy" Thorbjørn Jagland’s beeline from the Foreign Ministry to the chair of the Storting’s Foreign Affairs Committee. In-coming Foreign Minister Jan Petersen is also critical. "There is no rule which says that the Opposition should occupy this position, even if Gro Harlem Brundtland did so when she returned to the Storting when the Syse government came into power. We should also remember that the Labour Party is only marginally larger than the Conservative Party," said Mr Petersen. The coalition partners have said outright that they feel they have helped the Labour Party solve one of its internal personnel problems now that both party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg are returning to the Storting.

Yukos announces plans to increase stake in Kværner (Dagens Næringsliv)

Mikhail Khodorkovski, chief executive of the Russian oil company, Yukos, plans to become Kværner’s largest shareholder. Yukos wants to increase its stake in Kværner to between 25 and 40 per cent, and is offering NOK 15 per share, NOK 0.5 more than the share price at the close of business yesterday. At this price the ailing Norwegian company could cost Yukos up to NOK 200 million. By comparison Kjell Inge Røkke’s investment in Kværner cost him almost NOK 3 billion for a 17.8 per cent stake in the company. Yukos’s offer has created a completely new situation for Kværner. Intense negotiations are underway to decide the company’s future, after an acute liquidity shortage a month ago forced the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

Kværner’s entire board resigns (Aftenposten)

All the members of Kværner’s board of directors have resigned their seats. In theory this could lead to the entire board being replaced at the forthcoming extraordinary general meeting. Representatives of Kværner’s board have been holding frequent meetings with representatives of Kjell Inge Røkke’s interests. The purpose of these meetings is, among other things, to clarify Aker Maritime’s conditions for participating in an operation to rescue Kværner.

Norway prepares for BSE in sheep (Nationen)

Agriculture Minister Bjarne Håkon Hanssen yesterday launched a full-scale BSE alert. On Friday British scientists will publish a report on the possibility that sheep can develop BSE, also known as mad cow disease. Mr Hanssen has interpreted the signals to the effect that sheep can develop the fearful condition. The worst-case scenario would be that the disease can be transmitted from sheep to humans. "No contingency plan for Norway has been developed in the event that the disease is found in this country," said Gunnar Hagen of the Norwegian Animal Health Authority. He underlined that Norway was well placed, since no cases of BSE in cattle have yet been found here.

Worth Noting

• Over 15,000 people had their votes annulled at this autumn’s general election. Empty ballot envelopes, errors in the electoral rolls and complicated election procedures resulted in many people being effectively disenfranchised. (Aftenposten)
• The Navy is analysing evidence of submarine tracks on the seabed in Bugøyfjord, north of Kirkenes. Two amateur divers found suspicious caterpillar tracks on the seabed. The Headquarters Defence Command North Norway has been reluctant to comment on the discovery. Spokesman Lt. Col. Jon Espen Lien said that analysis of the finds had not yet been completed. "However, Norway does not have any submarine vehicles which leave caterpillar tracks behind them on the seabed," he said. (Verdens Gang)
• By Tuesday evening the National Bureau of Crime Investigation had registered 20 suspicious letters nationwide. Most of the letters had been sent from abroad, but there was no indication that any of them contained anthrax bacteria. (Aftenposten)
• By the end of next year 70,000 people will have had their private lives investigated by Norwegian military intelligence. Intelligence chiefs have decided to nullify all security clearances which were issued a long time ago. The investigation covers all those whose jobs require security clearance. Those people who lose their security clearance could risk losing their jobs. (Aftenposten)
• As many as 141,895 Norwegian women and men can now call themselves millionaires. Never before have so many of us been so wealthy. In the past year alone 13.7 per cent more people have accumulated net assets of NOK 1 million or more. (Dagsavisen)
• The Christian organization, Oasen Bibelsenter, outside Kristiansand has once again had its application to open its own junior school turned down by Education Minister Trond Giske. (Verdens Gang)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet

The Storting has broken many unwritten rules this autumn. When Siv Jensen takes over the chair of the Finance Committee it is the result of a politically necessary concession to the Progress Party on the part of the in-coming coalition government. It will therefore also be Mr Bondevik’s political problem to let Ms Jensen have the main responsibility for the negotiations surrounding the national budget. As a matter of principle, however, letting Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland take the helm of the Foreign Affairs Committee is more dubious. It concerns the balance of power between the executive and the legislature. Mr Jagland will now have the main responsibility in the Storting for policies he himself proposed as Foreign Minister. This is unfortunate. And other ex-ministers should not placed in the same situation. That Mr Jagland has been given the job anyway is due to the fact that the Foreign Minister is in a unique position. There is little disagreement on foreign policy between the two governments. Moreover, the Storting is helping to solve a delicate internal problem for the Labour Party. As such, it could help to improve the climate of cooperation between Labour and the new government.