As expected, there is complete chaos in Bergen politics after neither the right nor the left got a clear majority in the municipal elections.
City council leader Rune Bakervik (Ap) tells NRK that the current city council with the Labor Party and Liberal Party will resign.
– I will announce to the mayor that my city council is resigning. We are unable to count to the 34 necessary votes to get a governing council for Bergen, says Bakervik.
It happens after Høgre and Frp did best in the municipal elections in Bergen.
– We have worked hard, had a fantastic election campaign and delivered good results in Bergen for eight years, so it is clear that the disappointment is there, says Bakervik.
Now Høgre’s city council leader candidate Christine Meyer wants to take over.
– Høgre is the largest party in Bergen, and we of course take responsibility for forming a governing majority, says Meyer.
She is happy that Bakervik is clarifying the situation and is already leaving on Tuesday.
– It makes the task easier for us. We will spend the next few days and weeks probing with the party, and we will start on the bourgeois side, says Meyer.
On Tuesday morning, city council leader Rune Bakervik (Ap) says that the city council will resign. Christine Meyer (H) will now try to gather enough parties for a majority.
Photo: Hannah Bøthun
Can negotiate about the light rail over Bryggen
It is still unclear whether the right-wing party will get a majority. Even with KrF and Venstre on the team, the non-socialist parties are still in the minority.
– It is a demanding situation, but I feel confident that we will get there, says Meyer.
Now he will probe with several parties.
The challenge is that the remaining parties are against the decision to lay the light rail to Åsane over Bryggen: the Center Party, the Bergen List, the Industry and Business Party and the Pension Party.
Meyer will not answer whether the Center Party is the closest to them now.
The Progress Party is also against the light rail over Bryggen. On Monday evening, Meyer opened to negotiate where the light rail should go.
– Will there be a rematch for the light rail now?
– Now we will probe and then negotiate and see what the result is.
She says it is impossible to answer how long it may take to build a majority.
Bakervik says Ap and V will continue as city council until a new majority is in place.
– We will continue as the business ministry until further notice, says Bakervik.
Ap fears the light rail will never come to Åsane
The outgoing city council leader from the Labor Party is now very worried about how things will go with the light rail.
– That has been my great fear throughout this election campaign. If there is a rematch for the light rail, I fear that light rail will never come to Åsane, says Bakervik.
He says that the city council has worked hard to get the light rail fully regulated and that they have “a long way to go” in raising money to build it.
– We are very close in many ways.
Bakervik fears that the light rail will never come to Åsane.
Photo: Hannah Bøthun / NRK
Although the major parties have tried to put the light rail issue to rest after the decision in the city council this spring, several smaller parties have managed to mobilize opposition to the Bryggen route.
The new Bergenslist gets a total of four seats in the new city council, and the INP gets three. In total, the party that is against the Bryggen light rail gets 17 out of 67 mandates in the city council. In addition, Høgre’s 19 mandates come. The party initially does not want the light rail over Bryggen, but has said that they will no longer work towards it.
– Many people in Bergen obviously don’t want the light rail over Bryggen?
– The party represents different views on the light rail as it is currently adopted. Some are completely against the light rail, some are against the route, so there is no overall majority against the light rail to Åsane. On the contrary. Had Høgre stood his ground, the light rail would have been saved, says Bakervik.
Track minority council
Political editor in Bergensavisen, Sølve Rydland, thinks it is most likely going towards Høgre forming a city council on its own, or together with KrF and Venstre.
– But then KrF and Venstre must have guarantees that the policy will be drawn towards the centre, and Høgre must secure a majority for the light rail with Ap.
Rydland points out that they have given an ultimatum for the light rail over Bryggen, and that it will be very difficult to get a majority with a party that is against it.
– Alternatively, Meyer can turn to the Bergenslisten, INP, the Center Party, the FRP and the Pension Party. Together, they have a majority in the city council and against laying the light rail over Bryggen. But the challenge is that the center will see it as a provocation, points out Rydland.
Sølve Rydland believes there will be a minority city council, and that the light rail issue will cause difficulties.
Photo: NRK
Election researcher Yngve Flo says it will be exciting to see how things go in the light rail case.
– The focus has been on those who do not want the light rail over Bryggen, but now it is on what they want instead. It will be exciting to watch, and to see how it plays out in Høgre.
That Bergenslisten did as well as they did came as a shock.
– The big sensation captured by opinion polls was that Bergenslisten came in with four mandates.
– Trond Tystad really wants to build a tunnel, and realize it. It is not necessarily all the other parties who want that as strongly, says Flo.
Trond Tystad in Bergenslisten tells NRK that they will cooperate with anyone who wants to ensure that the light rail will be laid in a tunnel in the mountain behind Bryggen.
If there is a minority city council with a party that is not in agreement, he will cause trouble in the city council, warns Tystad.
– They can come to that recognition tomorrow or next summer. Sooner or later during this period we will be involved in managing and ensuring that the light rail leaves Bryggen and goes through the mountains, he says.
Trond Tystad in Bergenslisten says that they will ensure a tunnel solution for the light rail.
Photo: Hannah Bøthun / NRK
Not long since the last time
It has not been long since the last time an Ap city council had to resign in Bergen.
After a seven-year-old boy was found tied up and injured in a bed, and several other incidents, there was a child protection crisis in Bergen.
This resulted in Høgre, Raudt, Center Party, KrF and Frp putting forward motions of no confidence against the then city council leader Roger Valhammer (Ap) last autumn. Shortly afterwards he resigned as mayor.
Bakervik tells of a tense and expectant atmosphere at Aps’ vigil in Bergen on Monday evening.
– We had incredibly good unity in the party, so we had a good vigil, despite the election result, says the outgoing city council leader.
He points out that the election campaign started badly for the party.
– We have raised ourselves, but unfortunately not enough to hold on to power.
Political commentator Tone Sofie Aglen comments on the situation in Bergen.
2023-09-12 07:25:11
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