A year ago, she had to resign as deputy leader and minister after the commuter housing revelation. Now Rogaland Ap will have Hadia Tajik (39) as deputy leader of Ap at the national meeting in the spring.
The stage is thus set for a heavyweight battle for the position of deputy leader: AUF has already announced that they will advocate for Education Minister Tonje Brenna (35) as deputy leader.
The one deputy leader’s place in Ap has been empty since Tajik resigned after the commuter housing revelation in VG last year.
County leader Frode Fjeldsbø in Rogland Ap tells VG on Wednesday morning that the decision to promote Tajik’s candidacy was made this week.
– Rogaland Ap wants and is strongly in favor of Hadia Tajik as the new deputy leader of the Labor Party. The board had a meeting on Monday and has asked me to convey a crystal clear message and that is that we want Hadia Tajik as deputy leader of Ap again, he says.
– Speaks for itself
Fjeldsbø will sit on the election committee in Ap, which is chaired by LO head Peggy Hessen Følsvik.
He says it was important for the board of Rogaland Arbeiderparti to get the board’s recommendation communicated before the first meeting of the election committee.
– Many imagined that it was a central board position that she was relevant for?
– We think she should become deputy leader. Hadia has apologized for what she has done, resigned as deputy leader and minister and has made amends. We think her qualities as an elected official speak for themselves, he says.
He elaborates on the support as follows:
– Despite her young age, she has not yet turned 40, so she has extensive parliamentary experience. She has long leadership experience as a former deputy leader and spokesperson in many important matters. She has been a minister under two prime ministers and various ministerial posts and most recently as minister for employment and inclusion, she had enormous impact, where schemes were introduced that both Labor and the trade union movement have been very positive about.
– When she left, it was discussed that she did not handle the commuter housing issue well enough. Have you raised the issue with her?
– We understand that Hadia has apologized for the mistakes she has made, made up for it, resigned and made amends. So we believe that now, as the fabulously skilled politician she is, she must be allowed to come back. I and Rogaland Ap believe that Ap, the government and the country need her in an advanced position.
– Is it deputy leader number two you want her in, where AUF has already launched knowledge minister Tonje Brenna as a candidate?
– I do not want to comment on other candidates, but I can repeat something I have said before: We should elect another deputy, he says.
Today, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bjørnar Skjæran is deputy leader and there are many in the party who want there to be two deputy leaders.
Fjeldsbø adds that any other input from Rogaland Ap to the selection committee will be recorded later.
– With Trond Giske in the media a lot as a result of the fact that he leads Ap’s biggest local team, is there a part that fears that the old dispute between Tajik and Giske will no longer be a thing of the past, but will again be made visible?
– I don’t want to discuss others. When Rogaland Ap so clearly supports Hadia as deputy leader, it is because we believe both the party and the voters are ready for it – and need it.
Collected by Jens
Tajik had a brilliant career in Ap right from the time she joined as a political adviser already in 2006: She was promoted by Jens Stoltenberg, was elected to the Storting and in 2012 she became the country’s youngest minister when she became Minister of Culture at the age of 29.
She became deputy leader of Ap in 2015 – together with Trond Giske. Giske resigned after admitting inappropriate behaviour, and with allegations of breaching the party’s guidelines against sexual harassment in January 2108.
Then Tajik was alone again as crown princess and heir apparent on the day party leader and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre resigned as party leader.
The commuter housing case
But then the commuter housing case broke: It first brought down KrF leader Kjell Ingolf Ropstad and Storting president Eva Kristin Hansen (Ap), after revelations in Aftenposten and Adresseavisen.
In February last year, VG was able to reveal that Tajik, when she became a political adviser in 2006, received tax-free commuter accommodation on the basis of a contract that was never used.
Nor could she show that she had had real living expenses at her parents’ home.
She resigned first as Minister of Labour, following pressure from LO, and later as deputy leader.
She currently sits on the energy and environment committee at the Storting.
– Has been encouraged
Hadia Tajik tells VG that she is happy for the trust and that she is ready for top positions again, if the party wants her.
– I am happy to have my home county behind me and grateful that so many people from all over the country in our organization have encouraged me to run. If the election committee and the national assembly also want it, then I am ready to take responsibility in the leadership of the party.
She does not want to answer any questions other than that today.
– Beyond this, I do not intend to say much more about this now, it is important that the selection committee is given peace of mind to work and that the process is allowed to take its course.
Read more VG cases about Norwegian politics here!
Støre opened
When Tajik resigned as minister and deputy leader last year, Prime Minister and party leader Jonas Gahr Støre said he understood her decision, but also gave a clear signal that her political career was not over.
– Trust can be rebuilt, Støre said then.
As recently as December, he went even further:
– I said when Hadia resigned that she is a very skilled politician and I think we will hear more from her in leading positions in Norway in the future, and I stand for that, Støre told NRK’s Political Quarter then.
