– Vladimir Putin is responsible for the high gas and electricity prices, not Jonas Gahr Støre, Erna Solberg tells Dagbladet.
– But the government could have done much differently to better manage the situation, adds the conservative leader.
shelved
Better with the right
He knows something about managing a country in crisis. It was Erna Solberg’s Conservative Party that ran Norway when the pandemic hit.
– Which is why we didn’t go all dark in opposition this fall. We understand these are challenging times for the government and have given them room to manoeuvre.
Solberg believes it is time to say that the Conservative Party has handled today’s difficult situation better than the Støre government.
He walks through Oslo’s Spikersuppa Christmas market and his interview with Dagbladet is constantly interrupted by selfies with passers-by.
SNØSLOTT: Erna Solberg in a Christmas-themed Oslo. Photo: Jørgen Gilbrant / Dagbladet
sea View
– It hurts
The former prime minister points to several measures he believes the government should have taken to help Norwegians who are now struggling with high food prices, high electricity prices and high interest rates.
– In our alternative budget, we increased child benefits by NOK 8,000 per month for a family of four. Government parties voted against. We also want to reduce income tax and were against the food price hike introduced as part of the agricultural deal, says Solberg.
– All of this now would have helped people in the short term, he adds.
It is clear that long-term measures are also important for helping people who are struggling financially; integration policy, higher education and lowering the threshold for temporary work.
– It hurts to read stories about those who are struggling now. No one should feel this way, says Solberg earnestly.
Urgently summoned to the carpet
Tragic
A group of enthusiastic kindergarten children comes to Solberg. They proudly recount today’s mission; they came from Kolbotn to the big city with Christmas presents for the poor.
– The company owes those who volunteer for others a big thank you, says Solberg.
He admits that Christmas 2022 will always be a different Christmas, and not with positive signs. This is the Christmas when many first experience the feeling of not having enough money.
– The new, and tragic, thing is that there are more and more people who are having a difficult time now. You don’t necessarily have to be out of work. Ordinary people struggle to make ends meet. And we have to take it seriously.
– I think all politicians in the Storting sincerely want to do something about it, but I strongly believe that our solutions are better than what the government has come up with, he adds.
TikTok “bomb”: – Incomprehensible
Fortune?
The same day Solberg meets Dagbladet, Labor posts a disastrous worst performance in an opinion poll; 14.6. When Støre’s party got a 27.5 vote in 2017, the party went into crisis mode.
Today, the same measure had been received with champagne and caviar from Youngstorget.
– Can you admit you had some luck not running the country now?
– There are several aspects of the economy that Jonas Gahr Støre cannot be blamed for. As I said, the war in Ukraine is the main factor behind the troubled times, says Solberg.
The tragedy of the family – reveals the facade
– Do we know a “but”?
– But I think the Conservative Party would have cooked the cake differently if we were still in power. Our measures had reduced the hardships many Norwegians are facing.
– What would have been different?
– In addition to a number of political solutions, the country would have had much less constructive opposition if we had remained in government, that’s for sure. I think there are some who got high and dark before last year’s election, who may now regret it a little.
– Are you thinking about Trygve Slagsvold Vedum?
– I don’t want to go into singles, says Solberg.
