Deputy Mayor of Oslo Confronts Far-Right Alliance Party Leader for Deceptive Signature Campaign

– I was so provoked by the far-right Lysglimt deceiving people in that way, says Deputy Mayor of Oslo, Abdullah Alsabeehg (Ap).

Alsabeehg, who grew up in Holmlia and lives in the district, was going on a shopping trip to Hauketo center a little over a week ago.

There he spotted Alliance party leader Hans Jørgen Lysglimt Johansen, who was collecting signatures against what apparently looked like a campaign against tolls.

The posters read, among other things: “Signature against tolls – stop tolls”.

But the signatures went to something completely different.

– I chased him away

On the sheets people signed, which Dagbladet has seen a photo of, it said “Proposal for election list for the Alliance”.

– He collects signatures to support his far-right project, but wraps it in a campaign against tolls. He does it in one of Oslo’s most diverse districts. It is very ugly, says Alsabeehg, and adds:

– It is so undemocratic. People should know what they are signing up to, and what the Alliance and Lysglimt actually stand for in terms of reprehensible attitudes. Instead, people were tricked into signing a list, believing it to be a campaign to remove the tolls.

Parties that had a low turnout at the last general election must collect signatures in order to submit lists at the next election. The alliance received only a few thousand votes and 0.1 percent support at the last election.

The deputy mayor says that he confronted Lysglimt Johansen on the spot, and that the party leader packed up and left shortly afterwards.

– I am glad that I was able to expose him, and in a way chase him away. When I told people who Lysglimt is and what he actually stands for, it took two minutes for him to pack up and leave. No racists in our streets, says the Ap politician.

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Lysglimt Johansen tells Dagbladet that he can confirm the episode, and also calls it an “ugly and undemocratic case”, but believes for his part that it is Alsabeehg who has acted incorrectly.

– With this active intervention to chase me away, and by going on to the press like this, he is actually actively trying to prevent the Alliance from being able to stand in the municipal council elections in Oslo of which he is the supreme leader, he says to Dagbladet.

The Alliance leader says he will consider lodging a complaint about the conduct of the election with the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs.

– The fact is that the Alliance actually is against tolls more than any other party in Norway, and the Alliance is probably the only party that will actually keep our promise and remove the tolls when we come into power.

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Lysglimt Johansen has not answered Dagbladet’s question about why the Alliance chose to collect signatures in this way, and whether he thinks it is deceiving people.

I think many were deceived

Alsabeehg he says so many people at Hauketo thought they signed up to a campaign against tolls.

Among other things, a man who was supposed to sign, but who ended up not doing so when Alsabeehg said what was going on, is said to have come over, he says.

– I told them that it is the Alliance, not a campaign against tolls, and that they do not stand for good attitudes and values. The far-right Lysglimt has no support in diverse Oslo, and especially not in one of Oslo’s most diverse districts, Søndre Nordstrand.

Lysglimt Johansen believes Alsabeehg acted in a way that was unworthy of a deputy mayor.

– He shouted loudly and gesticulated, and ran after people who had just given their signature to persuade them to withdraw their signature.

– He got some to cross out their signature, but several others still wanted to give their signature anyway, even after Alsabeehg had explained what Lysglimt “actually stands for”, and then he just seemed very confused.

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It is not the first time that the Alliance’s party leader has collected signatures under the pretext of being a petition against tolls.

He used exactly the same method autumn 2020 – and garnered strong criticism from various political parties.

A few weeks ago Dagbladet wrote that the list “Pride” is listed as a proposal for this year’s municipal elections in Oslo, and that the candidates are there at most involuntarily, proposed by the Alliance.

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– This is a direct consequence of the last few years’ debate where I have insisted that Pride is an ideological and political project, Lysglimt Johansen told Dagbladet.

Dagbladet has previously mentioned that both conspiracy theorists, controversial immigration skeptics and holocaust deniers have been active in the party.

Before the last general election, they were reported for having distributed money at a high school to students who promised not to take the corona vaccine. They have been refused several times to have a stand at the political meeting Arendalsuka.