The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo
Press Division

Norway Daily No. 48/01

Date: 9 March 2001

Kleppe suspended for 12 months (NTB)

On Thursday the Progress Party’s executive committee decided to suspend Vidar Kleppe from the party for 12 months. This means that Mr. Kleppe will be ineligible for appointment or election to any political office for the period during which he is suspended. The executive committee recommends that the Vest-Agder Progress Party committee move its number two candidate up to the top of the list of candidates for the Storting. At the same time, however, the executive committee emphasizes that it is entirely up to the county committee to decide whether they want to hold a new nomination meeting.

Inconceivable and hard to accept (Dagbladet)

"This decision is inconceivable. It is disappointing and hard to accept. I will have to consider whether I should leave politics completely or keep up my involvement," said Vidar Kleppe after yesterday’s decision to suspend him from the Progress Party for a year. This punishment is, however, only half as much as party leaders recommended on Wednesday, but Mr. Kleppe has already received a number of offers to top alternative Progress Party election lists.

Progress falling apart after Kleppe suspension (Verdens Gang)

Progress Party leaders in Vest-Agder believe that the entire county party will break down in the near future as a result of the suspension of Vidar Kleppe yesterday evening. According to deputy chairman Ole Heisedal of the Vest-Agder Progress Party, a spate of members, party officials and local branches are resigning in protest. Mr. Heisedal says that the party currently has between 600 and 900 members in Vest-Agder county. "We have tried to effect a reconciliation, but national leaders are not listening. They are too arrogant to even answer our letters," says Mr. Heisedal angrily.

Lower housing taxes for most people (Aftenposten)

The new, simplified system of housing taxation proposed by the Minister of Finance will result in a noticeable tax reduction for two thirds of the population. Higher tax rates will not apply to pensioners receiving a minimum pension and other groups of people who have large homes and low incomes. The tax will be based on the number of square metres, and not on the market value of the home. Reductions will then be calculated based on the age of the home and the income of the owner.

First group of Kosovar Albanians to fly home today (Dagsavisen)

Today the first group of Kosovar Albanians who are travelling voluntarily back to their homeland will leave from Gardermoen Airport. But around 50 people have already been sent home against their will by the police. "We have a long list of Kosovar Albanians who are to be escorted out of the country by the police," says Superintendent Olav Voie at the Asker og Bærum police district, who collaborates with the Oslo police department in coordinating the involuntary repatriation of Kosovar Albanians from all over Norway.

Survey of predatory animals to be undertaken (Nationen)

Does the government really know how many farm animals are killed by predators every year? The government pays millions of kroner in compensation for livestock killed by predators, but nobody knows whether these payments correspond to the actual number of animals involved. Now the Office of the Auditor General is going to examine this arrangement. In the view of the county governors, the current monitoring system is inadequate.

Worth noting:

• Vidar Kleppe is probably sitting pretty at the top of the Storting election list for the Vest-Agder county Progress Party. The party leadership in Oslo cannot use the Elections Act to remove his name from the list, according to Steinar Dalbakk at the legal affairs section of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. ( Aftenposten)
• Vidar Kleppe’s departure from the Progress Party means trouble for the political parties, especially for Progress. In the south of the country the Christian Democrats may notice the competition if Mr. Kleppe initiates his own list. ( Vårt Land)
• Half of all Norwegian employers consider whether they should avoid employing women and the elderly when seeking new employees because of the more expensive pension schemes they require. ( Dagsavisen)
• Starting today the amount of meat produced at Norwegian slaughterhouses will be reduced sharply. The lack of meat in shops will probably begin to be noticeable in two weeks. The reason for this decline in meat production is the new restrictions on transporting animals. ( Aftenposten)
• Kværner board chairman Christian Bjelland is willing to reconsider a merger with Aker Maritime. His condition is that the price and the type of settlement are attractive enough for Kværner’s shareholders. ( Dagens Næringsliv)
• We have never before invested this much in equity funds. All the same, Norwegians are far behind the Swedes and Danes. We prefer to invest in high-interest bank accounts, and we lose out in the long run. ( Aftenposten)

Today’s comment

Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland was able to sum up his first year as Minister of Foreign Affairs with satisfaction and well-deserved pride. Norway has achieved a high global profile. Membership in the commission responsible for recommending confidence-building measures in the Middle East is a feather in his cap. Following the revolt in Yugoslavia last October, Norway was named as one of the triumphant opposition’s most important supporters. This fact will be important when Norway soon assumes command of the KFOR forces in Kosovo. Another long-term goal attained by Norway within the past year was a seat on the UN Security Council. The challenge here is to produce tangible political results. Norway’s high international profile is out of proportion to our impact in our own part of the world, however. The Government’s white paper on Europe was an attempt to launch a more constructive debate on Norway’s relations with Europe. Mr. Jagland’s own contributions to the debate on European relations have done his cause more harm than good, however, causing all combatants to go into formation behind the 40-year-old barricades of either advocacy or opposition to Norwegian EU membership. Regardless of the outcome, the big challenge facing Norway in the next few years will be to secure some influence at least over the changes taking place on our own continent. (Dagsavisen)