Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is under more pressure than ever, as his Labour Party descended this week into what even his closest colleagues call a “deep crisis.” Plummeting public opinion polls, serious conflicts within the party and accusations of weak leadership have led to calls for Støre’s resignation both as head of his party and his government.
Many of the calls for Støre’s resignations have been made anonymously in major Norwegian media, and thus branded as “cowardly” and especially uncomfortable for Støre. State broadcaster NRK reported on Monday that it had spoken with more than 25 “central sources” within Labour around the country who confirm “ongoing conversations about Støre’s leadership.” Because of the “sensitive” nature of the conversations, especially at the county level and among some of Støre’s own ministers, no one wants to publicly confirm that they’re going on.
Some reportedly think the now 64-year-old Støre should voluntarily resign ahead of the party’s annual meeting in April, so that Labour could elect a new party leader and have a new party program and new candidate for prime minister heading into the national election in September. Ongoing crises and the serious nature of internal conflicts within Labour and under Støre also came up in a book published earlier this fall by two long-time reporters for newspaper VG. The book, simply called Partiet (The Party), proved to contain errors and was viewed as highly controversial, but is already in its third edition.
By Tuesday, NRK, TV2 and newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) were all reporting that one of Labour’s two deputy leaders, Tonje Brenna, is ready to take over if Støre decides to resign. Brenna also serves as government minister in charge of labour and inclusion, and was stuck in the midst of a battle over sick-leave reform that collapsed with no conclusion on Wednesday.
Brenna, surrounded by reporters this week after a meeting in Parliament, didn’t directly deny the reports but claimed again and again that there was no “actual problem” or issue because no one was currently challenging Støre’s position. Asked whether Støre was the right leader for Labour right now, she responded that he is.
“The situation is very simple,” Brenna said. “Jonas Gahr Støre was chosen as the leader of the Labour Party. He is the prime minister of Norway and he is motivated to continue.” Støre himself had repeatedly claimed the same just the day before, when questioned over all the criticism pouring over him, also from within his own party. “I have responsibility as leader of this party and I’m taking it,” he said.
Støre later added that after a meeting with Labour’s parliamentary delegation, he believed he still had “the confidence, position and capacity to do the job,” repeating that he was indeed “motivated” to continue both as Labour leader and prime minister. He also reported that he’d even received “good feedback in the form of applause.”
‘Understand the frustration’
Brenna and Støre himself have both said they understand the frustration over poor public opinion polls, which have fallen to record lows around the country. They are also listening to the criticism over everything from high tax levels to declining public services, they’ve said, and keen to tackle it instead of buckling under. “I work with him (Støre) every single day and see that he does a good job,” Brenna said at the impromptu press gathering on Tuesday, even despite the poor polls that show voter support as low as 16 percent in some areas.
Støre has claimed that he doesn’t think his political life is threatened, rather that he simply has had to lead “in changing times” that have presented major challeges in all sectors. Asked how he related to the reported calls for him to turn over party- and government leadership to someone else, he responded: “I think you have to have the attitude that you can’t relate to anonymous sources quoted by all of you (in the media).”
Not all the criticism is anonymous, however. After a “crisis poll result” in the northern county of Nordland, one of Labour’s local mayors claimed “we can’t live with this.” Rune Edvardsen is mayor of Narvik, where Labour was always the biggest party, and a recent county-wide poll result of just 16.7 percent was devastating.
“This is much too low and much too poor,” Edvardsen told NRK. “Nordland has always been a Labour county, a bastion, but now we’re going through the same as the rest of the country.” Bjørnar Skjæran, a Member of Parliament for Labour and former minister, called it “absolutlely terrible.” He hastened to add, though, that he still thinks the current party leadership should remain in place, even as the right-wing Progress Party wound up with an astonishing 28.7 percent of the vote in Nordland. It seems to have taken away voters from both Labour and its government partner, the Center Party, and its growth is part of a conservative wave sweeping over the country.
Labour’s current “crisis” also follows important local party chapter nominations for Parliament from Oslo and Trøndelag in next year’s election. Both left Støre with two candidates who have either criticized Labour’s political agenda under his leadership or adhere to the more left-wing side of Labour politics.
Trond Giske, a controversial former Labour minister who openly challenged both Stoltenberg and Støre but left national politics after violating rules against sexual harassment, made a stunning comeback last weekend that’s likely to return him to Parliament representing Trøndelag. The local process that brought Giske back to power has been questioned, but Giske claimed he has no intention of trying to become prime minister himself. He says he just wants to concentrate on “policies that can win an election,” especially efforts to reduce social differences, fight poverty and retain control of energy resources.
In Oslo, another of Stoltenberg’s and Støre’s former government ministers who adhered to their more moderate politics, Hadia Tajik, lost out to Kamzy Gunaratnam, who was viewed as a more “grassroots” candidate and committed to helping solve Oslo’s problems. Tajik, who earlier represented Rogaland on the West Coast but ran into trouble herself, also had major battles with Giske and says she’s now likely to leave politics herself.
Fueling much of the Labour-leadership debate stems from how the highly educated and multi-lingual Støre, along with his other deputy leader Jan Christian Vestre, are viewed as being on the right-wing side of their party. Both Støre and Vestre also come from wealthy families, and have large personal fortunes of their own. Some members of Labour thus think the party has strayed from its roots in the working class and labour union movement. That can also explain why the left-leaning Brenna, who lacks a college degree, now seems favoured over Vestre, especially among party members also on the left and tied to industry.
Some signs of support for Støre finally began showing up late in the week, reportedly after Støre had asked for them. Peggy Hessen Følsvik, head of Norway’s largest trade union confederation, LO, stressed that it’s “party democracy within Labour that elects its leader” and that “Jonas has my and LO’s support as party leader and prime minister.”
Støre’s predecessor Jens Stoltenberg, who recently ended a 10-year term as chief of NATO, said he didn’t want to get dragged into the debate, but also thinks Støre is doing a good job. So does Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, leader of Støre government partner, the Center Party, which is also sinking in the polls. Both Vedum and at least one Member of Parliament for Labour stressed how Støre’s background as diplomat and foreign minister with massive international connections makes him best-suited to lead Norway at a time of war in Europe and high global tension.
Labour at home, however, now faces the most impatience for better poll results from its county organizations in Trøndelag, Akershus, Vestland, Vestfold, Buskerud, Nordland and Finnmark, where traditional strong support has also evaporated. Some claim it will become impossible not to publicly debate Labour’s leadership given all the “crisis polls,” while others, according to NRK, hope Støre will spend time during the Christmas holidays evaluating his future.
