Jagland attacked – Stoltenberg defended (Dagsavisen)

It was Thorbjørn Jagland who seduced the Labour Party’s national committee meeting yesterday. Mr Jagland criticized Labour’s party culture, warned of major changes ahead, and said out loud what many of his audience were privately thinking. With this tactic Mr Jagland ensured that it will be he and not Jens Stoltenberg who defines the framework for the political post mortem, on which the Labour Party embarked yesterday. Mr Jagland was brutal in his self-criticism, on behalf of himself and Mr Stoltenberg. The Prime Minister himself was not as humble. Mr Stoltenberg felt it necessary to reel off a long list of points in defence of the Government’s policy choices. He defended the Government’s policies on social security benefits, the sickness benefit scheme, social housing construction, oil revenue spending, local government financing and local authority nursery fees. There is no doubt that Mr Jagland once again won the hearts of the assembled Labour Party faithful.

Ad campaign caught most of the flak (Aftenposten)

It was not the Labour leadership which was the target of the party’s national committee meeting’s fiercest criticism yesterday. It was ad-man Kjetil Try, who was responsible for the party’s campaign material, who received the full force of the delegates’ anger. The senior party figures who were responsible for developing the party’s political platform, chairman Thorbjørn Jagland and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg were let off much more lightly.

Still more double-speak (Dagsavisen)

Thorbjørn Jagland is planning to stand for re-election as Labour Party chairman at next year’s party conference. Labour will therefore continue to field a two-headed leadership – despite political disagreements. An increasing number of party workers are now extremely concerned that the Labour Party is fronted by two leaders who do not agree on policy or tactics, past or future. But neither Jens Stoltenberg nor Thorbjørn Jagland will in any way admit that the party’s divided leadership has caused or will cause any problems.

Doubts about Competition Authority’s interpretation (Dagens Næringsliv)

SAS and Braathens have major doubts about whether the Norwegian Competition Authority has the right to regulate air transport capacity in Norway. This view emerged following yesterday’s meeting between the two airlines and the Competition Authority. Earlier this week Knut Eggum Johansen, who heads the Competition Authority, announced in the media that the Authority wanted to decide where and when SAS and Braathens could fly in Norway.

It is a shock (Dagens Næringsliv)

According to Kværner’s senior union representative, Asker and Bærum Bankruptcy Court could be the next stop on the line for the embattled industrial conglomerate and its 30,000 employees. "All those involved are aware that anything other than a refinancing of the company will force Kværner to the wall. On the employees’ side, we are beginning to get impatient and feel there has been too much dithering and jostling for position among the various players involved. The employees are anxious. This has come as a shock," he said.

Buy Kværner stock, advises broker (Dagsavisen)

Kværner’s shares plummeted on the Oslo Stock Exchange yesterday, at one point falling as low as NOK 5 per share before climbing back up to NOK 10.80 at the close of business. This caused great anxiety among the company’s small investors who had placed their cash in what many people regarded as a safe investment. "If I were a small investor, I would have bought up all the Kværner shares I could get my hands on," said Finansbanken’s chief stockbroker, Petter Warren. However, he emphasized that his advice was only for those who could afford to take the risk associated with Kværner’s shares.

27 companies hit rock bottom (Aftenposten)

The effects of terrorism reached the Oslo Stock Exchange yesterday. 27 companies fell to their lowest price ever. The OSE’s all-share index fell by more than seven per cent during the day, before ending 4.9 per cent down at the close of business. The downturn could be intensified if life insurance companies and other major investors are forced to sell off part of their share portfolios.

Majority in favour of tighter abortion laws (Vårt Land)

A new Storting and a possible new government could make it more difficult to abort a handicapped foetus. The election result also makes it more likely that the ban on embryo research will stay in force. The Conservatives, the centre parties and the Socialist Left Party could also join forces to put a stop to cloning in the search for stem cells.

Worth Noting

• Taxes and the environment are two of the most difficult areas for the three parties who are now entering the fourth day of their "exploratory talks". (Aftenposten)
• Sampo chief executive Björn Wahlroos could be forced to abandon his attempt to acquire Storebrand, despite the fact that he himself would like to give Storebrand’s shareholders one more chance. Today, Storebrand is worth NOK 6 billion less than Sampo’s bid. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The market value of Den norske Bank (DnB) fell by NOK 3.2 billion yesterday on the back of fears that Kværner would go bust and concerns abut the weight of the bank’s stake in Storebrand. (Aftenposten)
• Kværner’s major shareholders are now on collision course over how many representatives Kjell Inge Røkke should have on the board. Headhunters have made Aker Maritime boss, Sverre Skogen, favourite to take over as Kværner’s new chief executive. (Aftenposten)
• Five MPs who failed to win re-election to the Storting last Monday will spend the autumn on a study trip to New York. The trip will cost NOK 108,000 per head. (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

Since the early 1970s there has been cross-party agreement on the election of the President of the Storting. The individuals concerned has been elected against only a scattering of protest votes. The President of the Storting should continue to be a person who can unify the Storting because they enjoy cross-party respect. And the President should put aside their own party leadership role in order to assume the mantle of the national assembly’s most senior elected official, in keeping with the tradition we have now had for many decades. For this reason the position of President of the Storting should not be used as a bargaining chip during difficult government negotiations. If the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals propose Carl I. Hagen as President of the Storting to win the Progress Party’s support for their minority coalition government, that is exactly what will have happened., With the exception of Kjell Magne Bondevik, Mr Hagen is the most experienced parliamentarian in the new Storting. As such he has both authority and expertise, which could make him well qualified for the position of President of the Storting. But Mr Hagen is never going to be a figure of unity. His political past, both inside and outside the Storting, is far too controversial for that. As the country’s second highest ranking individual after the King, the President of the Storting should be a credible upholder of our society’s common values. 23 years as chairman of a party half the population says they would never dream of voting for is not the best background for this office.