STORTING (Dagbladet): Then Minister of Education Tonje Brenna’s competence case was the first to end up on the Prime Minister’s desk in June. But unlike her cabinet colleagues Anette Trettebergstuen, Ola Borten Moe and Anniken Huitfeldt, she has been allowed to keep her job.
She has even got a new job – and is now Minister for Employment and Inclusion.
But Tonje Brenna has also admitted to misconduct. Now she is explaining herself to the Storting’s Control and Constitution Committee.
Because the cabinet colleagues have taken parliamentary responsibility by resigning, the extent to which the Control and Constitution Committee can affect them is limited. But Tonje Brenna is still sitting, and for her there is a lot at stake in the hearing.
– I want to repeat that I have made serious mistakes with regard to my competence, and I apologize for that, says Brenna.
In the question round, committee member Carl I. Hagen asks if she considered resigning when Trettebergsruen did.
– It is up to you to assess the seriousness of my mistakes, she says and repeats that she herself has discovered these mistakes, and has brought them to light herself.
– Do you see that this appears strange from the outside that you are sitting down?, asks Hagen.
– I think people see that it is stupid when politicians make mistakes. Then I hope they also see a sitting Minister for Employment and Inclusion who wants to clean things up.
– Should have understood
– I should have understood earlier that my friendship with board members in Utøya AS could disqualify me, says Brenna.
Brenna also explains her friendship with Frode Elgesem, whom she appointed as a board member at the Wergeland Center:
– Frode Elgesem and I got to know each other when he was an assistant lawyer in the 22 July trial. We have kept in touch and are good friends, says Brenna.
She says that friendships between people who were in one way or another involved in the terrorist events of 22 July 2011 “tie us together in a special way”.
– It is only when I understand that I am incompetent as a result of my friendship with board members of Utøya AS that I understood that I was also incompetent in relation to Elgesem, says Brenna.
MUST ANSWER: Labor Minister Tonje Brenna arrives in the hearing room at the Storting. Photo: Bjørn Langsem/Dagbladet Show more
Routines
– Where is the limit for when you as a minister have to resign?, asks mayor Grunde Almeland (V).
– It is difficult to set such limits. For my own sake, I discovered it myself, and I’m keen to clean it up. Politicians must follow laws, rules and routines. When we make mistakes, we must acknowledge and clean up and in that way try to restore trust, says Brenna.
Like the other ministers who have explained themselves today, Brenna believes that the routines in relation to integrity work in the government can be improved.
– We have some way to go when it comes to routines. When the competence rules you learn have to be put into practice on the first day on the job as a minister, challenges can arise, says Brenna.
Committee leader, Peter Frølich (H) asks about an SMS she received from Frode Elgesem in connection with a building application. The case led to her being assessed as not incompetent in matters concerning Elgesem.
She says she should have done a better competency assessment and recorded it.
– Is it an oversight or bad routine?, asks Frølich.
– I have continuously kept a journal of what has been sent to me and continuously carried out competency assessments. So this is both poorly done and too late.
Two mistakes
In June, Tonje Brenna apologized for two mistakes while she was Minister of Education. She said she had assessed her competence too poorly and late in the appointment of four board positions.
Her friend Frode Elgesem was appointed board member of the Wergeland Centre. He was AUF’s legal counsel in the 22 July trial and became a friend of Brenna, who was among the Utøya survivors.
The second case concerns three board members of the foundation Utøya AS. Hilde Firman Fjellså and Marianne Wilhelmsen were appointed at the same time as they are her close friends, and Martin Henriksen is Brenna’s former partner.
Utøya AS is involved in a project with the Wergeland Center and receives money from the Ministry of Education, which Brenna led.
The appointments were later declared invalid.
Told myself
Brenna told himself about the mistakes in an interview and was allowed to remain in office as a minister.
Støre said he had confidence in her as minister and deputy leader and believed what she said.
She is the only one in the Støre government who has been allowed to remain in office after a competency case. The ministry has explained that Brenna was not warned about possible disqualification, while Trettebergstuen was notified early on of the same.
In her hearing, Trettebergstuen denied that she was warned.
Facts: The hearing so far
The day started with the Prime Minister Erna Solbergand her disqualification as a result of Sindre Finne’s extensive stock trading during her eight years as Prime Minister from 2013.
Solberg was also asked whether she would resign if the matter came up when she was prime minister.
– The parties in the government had to decide on that. But it could have been difficult to be prime minister then, but it is up to the majority in a parliamentary system, says Solberg.
This was followed by the former Minister of Culture Anette Trettebergstuen. She was the first of the ministers in the government who had to leave as a result of integrity cases on 23 July this year.
She denied to the committee that she should have received warnings. The impression created is wrong, she said.
She also said that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s description of her having received such warnings had made the matter more burdensome for her.
Borten Moe also pointed out what he believes to be a number of weaknesses in the systems surrounding the ministers.
– The rules could have been better, and the attention greater, said Borten Moe.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt took full responsibility for his incapacity as a result of her husband having a number of shareholdings she claims not to have known about. But she also believes that there has been little attention to shares in the administration and in the government
– Spouses’ shares have been a blind spot, says Huitfeldt.
2023-11-07 15:11:15
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