Voters turn backs on Labour (Nationen)

Jens Stoltenberg has never before been such an unpopular prime ministerial candidate, and never before have so few voters wanted a stand-alone Labour government. At the same time voters have expressed their lack of confidence in the country’s leading politicians. According to a recent poll carried out by Sentio-Norsk Statistikk on behalf of Nationen, four out of ten people interviewed said they did not want any of the most likely Norwegian party leaders as Prime Minister.

Foss proposes another billion in tax cuts (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss is pressing to gain his coalition partners’ backing for an additional NOK 1 billion in tax relief for 2003. This is over and above the NOK 9 billion which has already been approved for next year. Mr Foss’s proposal will probably mean reduced residential property tax, as well as a reduction in the electricity tax and other taxes which encourage Norwegians to travel to Sweden in search of cheaper food, alcohol and other retail goods. However, most of next year’s tax cuts will go to business and industry. The Government will not be in a position to introduce tax cuts which will really benefit the private consumer before 2004 and 2005.

Statoil opens gas exchange in Germany (Aftenposten)

The European gas market is changing fast. The EU is pressing for increasingly rapid deregulation, and is therefore trying to break up Norway’s long-term gas contracts. But while Statoil is fighting hard to retain its long-term contracts, it is also preparing for a new era. Together with the German gas companies, Ruhrgas and BEB, Statoil is planning to set up what could become Europe’s largest exchange for the buying and selling of gas. The exchange will be located in Emden, Germany, where much of the Norwegian gas is brought ashore.

Weekend crisis meeting for Labour (Aftenposten/Saturday)

The Labour Party’s parliamentary group gathers for a seminar at the Sundvollen Hotel on Monday and Tuesday. The plan is for the party’s A and B team MPs to clear away the controversies surrounding party ‘fossils’, working methods and solo performances in the media. There is also a widespread feeling that the party, in almost all respects, is drifting aimlessly, and that the party’s leadership is not exactly on the ball.

Doctors boycott scheme to send patients abroad for treatment (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

"Too many doctors are putting their own interests and the professional and financial interests of hospitals ahead of their patients’ welfare," said Jan Ove Nesse, project manager at the National Insurance Administration. 250,000 patients are waiting for treatment at Norwegian hospitals. A great many of them could have received help at hospitals abroad. Just half of the NOK 750 million which has been allocated to pay for patients to be treated abroad has so far been spent.

Progress Party demands influence over budget billions (Verdens Gang)

In connection with next year’s national budget the Progress Party will demand a say in the allocation of several billion kroner. Progress Party deputy leader Siv Jensen has already signalled that the party will be demanding lower direct and indirect taxes and a huge say in the way the budget is framed. "Last year we had a couple of hundred million kroner over which we could negotiate. That is not going to get the Government anywhere this year. We have clear priorities in the areas of direct and indirect taxation, defence, healthcare and transport," said Ms Jensen.

Jobs to be offered in the health sector (Nationen/Saturday)

The authorities are planning to recruit refugees and unemployed immigrants to jobs in the health sector in the same way as qualified staff are recruited from abroad. The Directorate of Health and Social Affairs is to introduce a number of measures to encourage refugees and immigrants to train for, or use their existing experience in, the health sector. The Directorate will work closely with the Immigration Directorate, the Directorate of Labour, local authorities and educational institutions with the aim of establishing an effective qualification programme as quickly as possible.

Shipyard on fraud charges (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

The Government has brought charges against the shipyard, Fosen Mek. Verksteder as (FMV), for serious fraud, alleging that the company has received NOK 35 million more in subsidies than it was entitled to. The Norwegian Export Credit Agency (Eksportfinans) claims that FMV has knowingly and over a long period of time made false claims in connection with applications for public shipbuilding subsidies. The Government’s move took FMV by surprise because the deadline within which the shipyard must answer the allegations has not yet expired. FMV’s lawyer is preparing a counter-suit against the Government. The shipyard claims the authorities have unlawfully withheld NOK 35.4 million in subsidies.

Worth Noting

• Millions of kroner in donations from Norwegian businesses gave the environmental foundation Bellona a surplus of NOK 1.6 million in 2000. Statoil is among 33 companies which have signed a partnership agreement with Bellona. (Aftenposten/Saturday)

• Never before have so many ordinary wage-earners, pensioners, people receiving social security benefits and students queued up at banks and other credit institutions to borrow money for cars, new kitchens, domestic appliances, computer equipment, boats, televisions and other consumer durables. As a nation we have now borrowed NOK 240 billion to purchase consumer goods. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
• The management of SAS and Braathens is planning to merge the two airlines’ Norwegian ground operations into one company, Scandinavian Ground Services (SGS). The merger could lead to the loss of 1,000 jobs. (Verdens Gang/Saturday)
• Violent criminals and sex offenders owe their victims NOK 270 million in compensation and damages – and the debt is growing every year. Attorney Tor Erling Staff believes the system should be abolished. (Dagbladet/Sunday)
• In the past four years 35,000 youngsters have dropped out of the country’s upper secondary schools, according to figures from Statistics Norway. The number of young people who do not complete their upper secondary education is increasing in a number of counties. (Verdens Gang/Sunday)
• Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines is currently negotiating with the Korean company, Hyundai Merchant Marine for the purchase of 80 ships for the sum of NOK 13 billion. If the deal goes ahead Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines, in which Wilh. Wilhelmsen has a 50 per cent stake, will be responsible for one of the biggest ever ship purchases. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
• In order to strengthen the morals and values of children and young people Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik is giving NOK 4.5 million to the Association for the Promotion of Christian Values in Schools (Kristent Pedagogisk Forbund). "We want to bring the moral debate and an awareness of values into schools," writes Mr Bondevik in today’s Aftenposten. (Aftenposten)
• Being on the board of a Norwegian company is a lucrative affair. Yngve Hågensen, that well-known scourge of greedy business executives, cashes in NOK 250,000 for sitting on Kværner’s board. "Directors’ fees approaching the basic salary of an ordinary industrial worker are too much," he said in an interview with Dagbladet. (Dagbladet)
• One in four younger telephone users can only be reached by cell phone. Norwegian cell phone users are also world champions in sending text messages. 10 per cent of the total population can only be reached by cell phone, while as many as 22 per cent of those aged 15-25 only have a cell phone. (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

When an off-the-cuff and generally misinterpreted comment from Thorbjørn Berntsen turns into a key issue in the struggle for the Labour Party’s soul, there is not much more that needs to be said about the party’s current problems. Mr Berntsen made his comment in a meeting with journalists, and it is indicative of our own profession that amid the hearty laughter it provoked no one protested at the vulgarity. We have, however, rarely seen anything so embarrassing as what followed – this weekend’s high-profile meeting at which Thorbjørn Berntsen and Anniken Huitfeldt kissed and made up. The original comment was embarrassing enough for Mr Berntsen, who despite his faith in the power of the slogan has once again shown that he is unable to express himself with any precision. It is just as embarrassing for Karita Bekkemellem Orheim and the rest of the Labour Party’s women’s movement, who take this kind of thing seriously. Penalty points also go to Bjarne Håkon Hanssen who continues his surprising and ham-fisted attempt to become the party’s next deputy leader, and cannot pass up even this opportunity to draw attention to himself. But most serious of all – and most embarrassing – is the fact that this is what it took to get the Labour Party’s incoming leader to appear on NRK’s evening news bulletin. The Labour Party’s parliamentary group meets today for a seminar at Sundvollen. It would be quite incomprehensible if Jens Stoltenberg does not now take the reins and try to steer a party which is stumbling about without any sense of direction or purpose. It is not our job to advise the Labour Party, but it is incredible to watch the disintegration of a party which for over 50 years was the country’s political mainstay. In today’s fluctuating political situation, this does not necessarily have to be Labour’s permanent fate, but it will not be understood if Jens Stoltenberg does not now take a firm grasp of the helm and set a new course.