8 out of 10 do not believe in politicians’ promises (Aftenposten)

Politicians’ promises of pre-school day care for all and a maximum price of NOK 1,500 per month are supported by two out of three voters. But a whopping 86 per cent believe that those promises are just a pipe dream. The Labour Party, Progress Party, Socialist Left Party and Centre Party blame the Government for the voters’ scepticism. "No, I don’t think these doubts are surprising. I think people are tired of what they see as game-playing, and it is also unfortunate that leading members of the Government have sown doubts about whether the scheme will be implemented despite the Storting’s crystal clear views on the matter," said Siv Jensen (Progress Party), one of the architects behind the pre-school day care reform.

Hijackers cannot be touched (Dagbladet)

Legal experts at the Local Government and Regional Affairs Ministry have been investigating whether it is possible to reopen the case of the two Iranian hijackers who have been granted permanent residence in Norway on humanitarian grounds. They informed Local Government Minister Erna Solberg of their conclusions yesterday. According to the Ministry’s lawyers, the case cannot be reopened. However, Ms Solberg has no intention of letting the hijackers stay in Norway for good. When their residence permits come up for renewal in a year’s time, she hopes that she will have succeeded in finding a political solution with the countries to which the hijackers may be deported. "One chapter has been closed. Foreign Minister Jan Petersen and I must now have a discussion. We still cannot accept that Norway should become a sanctuary for hijackers," said Ms Solberg.

New identity for threatened witnesses (Aftenposten)

Following a major increase in the number of threats received by witnesses in serious criminal cases, Justice Minister Odd Einar Dørum has ordered security measures to be tightened up. Witnesses who feel threatened by criminal elements will in future be offered protection, a new identity, removal of their names from public registers and help to start afresh at a secret location. Next week Mr Dørum will ask the Directorate of Police to initiate a number of security measures.

Call for Norwegian Central Bank statement to ease currency squeeze (Dagsavisen)

Industry is quaking in its boots. The Norwegian krone is going from strength to strength and interest rates are being held high. The industrial associations belonging to the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) have given up on the Government and are begging Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, for help. "Mr Gjedrem must come out and say that the exchange rate is too high. We have asked him to consider whether the krone is where it should be at the next interest rate meeting on 3 July," said Svein Thompson, head of public affairs at the Federation of Norwegian Process Industries.

Hagen’s ‘revenge’ (Dagbladet)

Justice Minister Odd Einar Dørum refused to back the Progress Party’s proposal to extend the maximum sentence for premeditated murder to 30 years’ imprisonment – even though Mr Dørum himself has argued in favour of such a move. However, the Progress Party has got its ‘revenge’. The Progress Party secured a parliamentary majority for a Socialist Left Party proposal to force police officers to give a receipt to everyone they stop on the street. The measure means that all those who are stopped, asked to provide proof of identity or searched must be given an on-the-spot receipt indicating the type of control carried out, the date and time, and the police officer’s badge number. Every Minister of Justice since Grete Faremo has supported police objections that it would lead to more paperwork for police officers and rejected the proposal.

Airline promises rock-bottom prices (Verdens Gang)

With rock-bottom prices and one-way tickets only, Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) plans to give SAS a mauling on the country’s most popular airline routes. As early as this autumn the company will capture thousands of airline passengers each day. NAS has chartered in a total of six planes. Two have been chartered from KLM, one from the Boeing factory and three from the Brazilian airline, Varig. The plan is to fly six departures daily each way between Oslo and Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger. There will be one departure to Tromsø each morning and afternoon.

Producers half-hearted towards organic food (Dagens Næringsliv)

One in four Norwegians over 18 years of age would buy organic food products, but choice is limited. Farmers-owned food manufacturers are reluctant to invest in organic products because they fear it would reflect badly on traditionally farmed foodstuffs. "There is no willingness to develop or market organic products in Norway," said Liv Solemdal, a researcher at the Norwegian Centre for Organic Agriculture.

Every second building illegal (Nationen)

Half of all holiday properties in beachfront areas contain an illegally built house, boathouse, outhouse or jetty, according to the Directorate for Nature Management (DN). The Directorate is asking local authorities to press charges against property owners who ignore regulations designed to protect the countryside. Violations of the Open Air Recreation Act and the Planning and Building Act could represent a bigger threat than frequent dispensations from the ban on building within 100 metres of the waterline. The Directorate has come to this conclusion after carrying out a number of inspections around the Norwegian coastline.

Worth Noting

• Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has promised that the Government will follow up the Storting’s decision to introduce a price cap on pre-school nursery fees. The proposal will be formally approved today when the Storting votes on the revised national budget for this year. (Aftenposten)
• When she was young, angry and dark red, Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen sang enthusiastically about gelding the left’s enemy number one, Carl I. Hagen. Now she is helping to make the Progress Party more virile than ever before. (Dagbladet)
• The Labour Party and the governing coalition parties have agreed on a proposal to enable the Government to review its position on the money owed by the troubled shipyard, Fosen Mekaniske Verksted (FMV). FMV now seems to have been rescued from the brink of disaster. (Aftenposten)
• Plummeting stock market prices and two major industrial disputes have reduced the NHO’s fighting fund by well over NOK 200 million this year. The organization’s member companies must now pay up to refill the NHO’s coffers.
• British pounds, US dollars, Swedish and Danish kroner and euros are all going for a song, but that has not resulted in cut-price clothes, cars, shoes or electrical goods for us consumers – even though the importers are buying them cheap abroad. (Dagbladet)
• Karan Judge, an Indian financier, is attempting to acquire Finansbanken for almost NOK 2 billion. Storebrand wanted to negotiate, but was prevented from doing so by Den norske Bank. The two companies recently agreed to merge their operations. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Local councillors in Trondheim found the cash to pay for the wedding between Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn by dipping into the city’s education budget. The city council still does not know what the final bill for the wedding will be. (Dagsavisen)
• Each year NOK 500 million is swallowed up by slot machines located on Norwegian ferries sailing to international destinations. The Norwegian Gaming Board has no control over gambling on the high seas. The money goes straight into the pockets of the shipping lines. (Vårt Land)

Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

The opposition parties in the Storting are up in arms, and are threatening to topple the Government because Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, chairman of the Christian Democratic Party, has hinted that the Government plans to take a closer look at the opposition’s pre-school day care reform before swallowing it hook, line and sinker. If the Government is forced to step down who will be the next prime minister – Kristin Halvorsen, Carl I. Hagen or Jens Stoltenberg?