The Royal Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Oslo
Press Division

Norway Daily No. 81/01

Date: 30 April 2001

Hagen a paper tiger (Dagsavisen)

Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen has named the parties he sees as his main foes in the forthcoming general election. They are the Labour Party, the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party. "We will stage a comeback. This winter’s depression and anguish has been blown away. The Progress Party has matured, and we are looking forward into the future not backward into the past. There is an upbeat tone in the party and people are optimistic," concluded Mr Hagen at the end of this weekend’s party conference yesterday. Delegates responded with jubilation and enthusiasm. For the party chairman had spoken. It is the Labour Party, the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party who are to be beaten in this year’s election, though the three parties concerned do not seem noticeably concerned by the prospect.

Progress Party makes another attempt to woo Conservatives and Christian Democrats (Vårt Land)

The Progress Party has not abandoned its dream of taking office. It is making itself more attractive with promises of lower taxes for ordinary people. This pledge will make the Progress Party so large and powerful that it cannot be ignored by the Conservatives and Christian Democrats. This weekend the Progress Party’s deputy chairman, Siv Jensen, made a pass at both Jan Petersen and Kjell Magne Bondevik. But to be precise, it is a proposal both Ms Jensen and party boss Carl I. Hagen have made before under completely different circumstances. But despite the fact that support for the Progress Party has dropped like a stone and the other parties have distanced themselves more clearly from them, the Progress Party’s leadership has not given up its dream of a seat in the cabinet.

Stiffer sentences for shoplifting (Aftenposten/Sunday)

If a shoplifter steals goods worth under NOK 2,000 and hands the goods back, the perpetrator may not be detained by the shop’s staff or security guards. Justice Minister Hanne Harlem wants a change in the legislation so that more people can be charged and convicted for shoplifting. By raising the maximum penalty, it will be possible to demand that thieves identify themselves. It will also be possible to detain suspects until the police arrive.

Nothing on tape (Dagsavisen/Sunday)

Tape recorders are not in use by either the Nes District Court in connection with the Orderud murder trial or the Kristiansand Municipal Court in connection with the trial of the two men accused of murdering two young girls last year. If either case is appealed, not a word will have been preserved on tape. This weakens the guarantee of due process of the law, claims the Norwegian Bar Association. Only nine Norwegian courts are taking part in a pilot scheme which allows the proceedings to be tape recorded. Neither the Nes District Court nor the Kristiansand Municipal Court is part of that pilot scheme. As a result they do not have the opportunity to use tape recorders. The media do, however, are under no such restrictions.

EU could stop Norwegian gas sales (Aftenposten/Sunday)

The European Commission may ban the oil companies operating in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea from participating in the Norwegian Gas Negotiation Committee (GFU) if Norway does not speed up its implementation of the EU’s gas directive and phase out the GFU. The conflict between the EU and Norway over gas is being stepped up, not least because Norway wishes to take a long time over the implementation of the gas directive, which will deregulate the European gas market. The European Commission is now threatening to impose swingeing fines on oil companies operating in the Norwegian sector if they participate in the GFU, which was created by the Norwegian Storting. In the EU’s view the activities of the GFU are illegal.

NSB to sell off real estate worth NOK 4 billion (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

NSB’s board of directors has voted to approve the widespread sell-off of real estate not directly linked to the national railway companies operations – on condition that the price is high, and preferably in the region of NOK 4 billion. NSB’s board voted to sell a minimum of 51 per cent in the company’s real estate subsidiary, Rom Eiendomsutvikling, which manages all redevelopment projects linked to NSB’s real estate.

Doctors step up attack on Tønne’s hospital reform (Klassekampen/Saturday)

The doctors behind the counter-report on hospital reform will step up their criticism today when they publish a new analysis of Health Minister Tore Tønne’s reform bill. Bjørn Willumsen and Mads Gilbert will launch their renewed attack in Tromsø. "Mr Tønne’s proposed hospital reform is foolishness on a historic scale and could blow the Labour Party apart," says Bjørn Willumsen, who is himself a member of the Labour Party and chairman of the Tromsø branch of the Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees.

Worth Noting

• A group of employees from Kværner’s oil and gas division are planning to start their own company if Kværner is merged with Aker Maritime. 10-15 employees have formed what they call a contingency group. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• Children and Family Affairs Minister Karita Bekkemellem Orheim admits that the additional cash benefit for children under three has not had the calamitous effect she had forecast. But Ms Orheim has made it clear that her aim is still to phase out the entire scheme. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
• A potential centre alliance government no longer amounts to any competition nor poses any real threat to Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. He has now announced that the autumn’s election campaign will be waged between the Labour Party and a coalition government in which the Conservatives dominate, and which has the support of the Progress Party. (Dagbladet)
• The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) has billions of kroner in reserve. The LO central office is now proposing a change in the organization’s articles of association to allow those funds to be invested on the stock market. Today the main rule is that the money must be placed in bank deposits, or invested in bonds or the LO’s own companies. Last year the LO achieved a record profit, thanks to the sale of shares in the banking and insurance group, Vår. The LO made a profit of almost NOK 500 million on the sale. The money has been used to strengthen the organization’s strike fund, which now amounts to NOK 650 million. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Support for the Labour Party has risen to 32.2 per cent, according to the April poll from AC Nielsen Norge. This result is the complete opposite of the latest poll by market research company, Opinion, which was carried out during the same period. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Vårt Land

Obedience was the watchword at the Progress Party’s annual conference this weekend. After all the turbulence of the past year there was no room for more public displays of disagreement, and it was not surprising that policy debate was noticeable by its absence. It is becoming increasingly clear that Carl I. Hagen has taken a knock as party leader. This time he was compared to a circus artiste who is forced to resort to old tricks, and who the audience knows all too well from previous performances. Some voters love repeats, but a political party cannot base its future on them. Carl I. Hagen had imagined quite a difference scenario a year ago, when he lay the party’s political strategy. Priority number one was to make the party acceptable as a coalition partner at the same time as the succession was to have been secured in the shape of young and ambitious politicians like Siv Jensen and Terje Søviknes. Mr Hagen’s objective of securing a place in a coalition government has receded into the far distance, leaving him free to spend his last four years in the Storting as a thoroughgoing populist. Mr Hagen has previously demonstrated that he masters that role to the hilt. The big picture will be less in focus, and he will constantly play on the uncertainties of shifting political alliances in the Storting. He could therefore be an unpredictable and difficult player on the political stage. Such uncertainties give grounds for unease, regardless of who takes on the job of government after the election.