VOTERS ABANDONING LABOUR (Aftenposten)

Labour is losing out to the Progress Party, with only 4.7 percentage points now separating the two, according to Opinion’s August survey. Labour experienced some recovery when Jens Stoltenberg took over as Prime Minister, only to go into a steep downturn shortly thereafter, plummeting to 27.2 per cent while Progress surged to 22.5 per cent. Internal wrangling about the hospital system, the counties, privatization and EU membership have done more harm than gain to voter support. Mr. Stoltenberg and party chairman Thorbjørn Jagland have both greatly underestimated the opposition in their own ranks to modernization of the public sector.

STOLTENBERG BLAMES HIMSELF AND REST OF GOVERNMENT (Dagbladet)

In a closed meeting with Labour’s parliamentary group, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg took the blame for the turbulence of the past summer within the party. He also had some critical remarks about the rest of the Government, as well as several MPs. He also informed them that next year’s budget is going to be extremely tight, with little extra funding for Labour’s priority issues. What should have been an uplifting meeting after five months in power turned into a round of political faultfinding instead.

ILLNESS SHOULD NOT PAY (Dagens Næringsliv)

Reduced benefits combined with a longer employer’s liability period are what Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) director general Finn Bergesen suggests for bringing the record levels of sick leave down. "Total projected sick pay for this year is up to NOK 45 million, which is not good for the economy at all," says Mr. Bergesen. He now has hopes of getting the other members of the Sandman commission to support extensive changes in the sick pay scheme.

PROFESSOR PROPOSES TWO WEEK SELF-DECLARATION (NTB)

Employees ought to be able to stay home from work for up to two weeks without a doctor’s certificate, instead of the current three days, in the view of Prof. Dag Brusgaard, an authority on medical welfare. Prof. Brusgaard insists that the politicians should at least maintain the system as it is.

NORWEGIAN GOODS SELLING WELL (Aftenposten)

All price trends are running in Norway’s favour, especially with respect to Norwegian raw materials and products based on raw materials. The current buoyancy represents windfall profits of NOK 120 billion for 2000. The Norwegian economy depends heavily on raw materials such as petroleum, fish and aluminium, making it sensitive to price trends which are beyond our control. In other words, what goes up can also come down.

INSURANCE COMMISSION FAVOURS HIGHER PREMIUMS (NTB)

The insurance companies paid more in compensation in the first six months of this year than they took in premiums. Without the income derived from investments in stocks and bonds, they would be operating in the red, which Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission director Bjørn Skogstad Aamo finds alarming. The commission has no objection to a raise in premiums.

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE ON THE PARLIAMENTARY AGENDA (Dagsavisen)

The Socialist Left has submitted a bill which would enable the Church of Norway and the state to separate. Socialist Left party chairman Kristin Halvorsen points out how unreasonable it is for the state to give preference to any specific confession. If the Christian Democrats follow the recommendation of their own church affairs committee, a parliamentary majority for the separation of church and state seems likely. But there is not a sufficient majority for a constitutional amendment, however.

WORTH NOTING

• On his first trip to the Middle East as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thorbjørn Jagland insists it is not too late for Palestinians and Israelis to come to terms. Mr. Jagland will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv today for talks, after which he will go to Bethlehem to meet with Yasser Arafat. (Aftenposten)
• Minister of Petroleum and Energy Olav Akselsen is irritated at being blamed for the harnessing of the Beiar river in Nordland, while insisting that construction cannot be halted. Mr. Akselsen has thus drawn the ire of all environmentalists and most of the Storting. (Dagbladet)
• The Conservatives promise to make trouble if Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg raises taxes. Conservative party chairman Jan Petersen says any collaboration with Labour will be out of the question if there are any tax increases in the fiscal budget. (Dagbladet)
• Centre Party chairman Odd Roger Enoksen’s report to his party’s national committee was quite clear: go out and tell people there is no need for Norway to join the EU. (Nationen)
• If Kværner succeeds in buying Aker Maritime, it will probably have to consider selling its worldwide construction division, which could bring in up to NOK 5 billion. (Aftenposten)
• It looks like former minister of foreign affairs Knut Vollebæk will not become UN High Commissioner for Refugees after all. Instead, according to Dagbladet’s sources, he will be sent to Washington as ambassador. Mr. Vollebæk’s candidacy in the UN is weakened by the fact that a number of Norwegians are already serving in high-ranking UN offices. (Dagbladet)
• Raufoss officials will sign a NOK 3 billion contract with General Motors in October. The contract requires Raufoss to build a factory in the US, though there will be no need to close its facilities in Raufoss. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Shelters for battered women are calling for limits on the number of women Norwegian men may bring home from Russia. A number of men have had six or seven wives/spouse equivalents. (Aftenposten)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Aftenposten

The Labour Party is trying to figure out what policies it should pursue in the coming parliamentary term. With the national convention two-and-a-half months away, this is by no means unusual and it should be no cause for alarm. What is unusual, though, is that Labour is supported by only 27.2 per cent of the voters, according to Opinion’s first poll for Aftenposten after the end of the summer holiday. A closer look at the survey should alarm Labour politicians, though. Policy considerations and decisions are always more difficult as the national convention approaches. Labour formed a new Government without thoroughly exploring and defining its goals, and as a result, Mr. Stoltenberg’s transition from his status as a popular politician and television personality to that of responsible prime minister was shorter and more brutal than anyone had anticipated. Unsurprisingly, the recent poll reveals that the internal debate on the hospital system, the counties, privatization and EU membership has had a more negative than positive impact on voter perceptions of the party. From the point of view of the party, the most disturbing aspect of this survey is not the impact on Labour voters but on the parties Labour would like to collaborate with as well as on the parties with which Labour must compete for voters.

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