Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre issued an appeal to the country after presenting his new minority Labour government on Tuesday, the first in 25 years made up of just one party. It only represents 26.3 percent of voters in the last national election, but Støre is keen to show that it can rule responsibly.
“I ask Norway to give us a fair chance to show that we can govern Norway in a secure manner,” Støre said after he and his 19 other government ministers walked out of the Royal Palace in Oslo. They’d just been formally apppointed to their posts by King Harald V, and Støre was clearly proud.
“We are on the job for Norway,” Støre added, “and it will be clear that this is a modern social democracy in charge.” He also noted that he and his 19 government colleagues are governing in “very demanding” times.
In addition to the surprise appointment of former prime minister and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg as finance minister, Støre’s new government has seven other new ministers from the Labour Party who replace those who left when the Center Party pulled out of Støre’s earlier coalition government. They include:
*** Nils Kristen Sandtrøen, age 36, as agriculture minister. Sandtrøen is currently a Member of Parliament for Labour from Hedmark.
*** Kjersti Stenseng, age 50, as minister in charge of local governments. Stenseng has most recently served as Labour’s party secretary.
*** Lene Vågslid, age 38, as minister in charge of children’s and family issues. Vågslid is currently a Member of Parliament from Telemark.
*** Tore O Sandvik, age 55, as defense minister, a particularly important post at present because of Russia’s war on Ukraine and threats to national security. Sandvik is a former county governor from Trøndelag and stepped in as climate minister when Andreas Bjelland Eriksen was on paternity leave.
*** Sigrun Aasland, age 46, as minister in charge of higher education and research. Aasland has most recently been a state secretary in the climate and environment ministry and is from Agder in Southern Norway.
*** Asmund Aukrust, age 39, as minister in charge of foreign aid. Aukrust is currently a Member of Parliament from Akershus.
*** Astri Aas-Hansen, age 54, as justice minster. Aas-Hansen led a recent commission that confirmed the importance of Norway’s economic agreement with the European Union and has been serving as a judge at the county court level.
All of the other Labour ministers in Støre’s government will be continuing in their posts. They come from all over Norway, with 10 of them men and 10 of them women.
Støre noted on Tuesday that five members of his new government are also survivors of an ultra right-wing terrorist’s attack on a summer camp for young Labour members in 2011. That’s up from three in the government Støre formed with Center in 2021: Current Labour Minister Tonje Brenna, Trade Minister Jan Christian Vestre and Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen will now be joined by the new agriculture minister, Sandtrøen, and by Aukrust, the new minister in charge of foreign aid.
Sandtrøen and Aukrust were also at the Labour youth’s summer camp on the island of Utøya on July 22, 2011 when a heavily armed young Norwegian man carried out a massacre that killed 69 people and wounded hundreds more. “We will never forget your engagement and participation and willingness to take on responsibility,” Støre said to the youngest members of his government. “It reflects which values won, and the power of strong values and faith in democracy.”
Støre readily admitted that his government will need to find a majority in parliament (Stortinget) on every issue, but claimed he’s “convinced that in Norwegian politics, we find the best solutions for fewer differences and great opportunities for all” among parties on the left. That includes the Center and Socialist Left parties.
On several looming issues, however, including the energy issue that split Labour and Center and led to Center’s withdrawal from Støre’s coalition government last week, Labour has already found a majority with the Conservative and Liberal parties. That’s likely to also be the case regarding Norway’s relations with the EU, which Støre wants to nurture while Center wants Norway to remain firmly outside the EU.
Marit Arnstad of the Center Party, which was accused by some of valuing low energy rates over cooperation with the EU and even national security, promised to be “issues-oriented and constructive in opposition, but we will also be critical in areas we think that’s necessary. That applies especially to energy issues. It can also apply to some climate issues.” Center has traditionally favoured development in outlying areas of Norway, for example, over preservation of nature and the environment.
Kirsti Bergstø, leader of the Socialist Left party (SV), congratulated the new government and its new ministers. SV has long had a cooperation with Labour but opted against joining Støre’s government when it was first formed after the election in 2021. SV is more climate- and environment-oriented and wants to pare back Norway’s oil and gas industry, and Bergstø said she hopes the new government will support more “green and fair” reforms.
Erna Solberg, leader of the Conservative Party, also congratulated Støre’s new “pure-Labour” government but doesn’t think it will change its course very much. “Even though Labour has brought in some new faces, Støre’s politics will be the same as before along with being weaker in Parliament,” Solberg told news bureau NTB, “and must negotiate there with both Center and SV. That means even more unpredictable governance than we’ve seen the past few years.”
Greens leader Arild Hermstad, meanwhile, thinks Labour will promote “different and better nature policies. Center has delivered extremely poorly from the positions it has, and took the government in a greyer direction.”
Several politicians in other parties agree, meanwhile, that the new government will further increase support for Ukraine. “I look forward to see them in action,” Sveinung Rotevatn of the Liberal Party told NRK.
Both union- and business leaders looked forward to “good cooperation” with the new government. “In uneasy times,” the leader of Norway’s employer’ organization NHO told NRK, “it’s good that the government will have a finance minister (Jens Stoltenberg) with broad experience who shows understanding for business’ needs, when we need a predictable framework more than ever.”
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund