The leader of Vestre Toten Frp, Stig Vestlie, has been suspended from all positions in the party for one year, with subsequent exclusion from party meetings for one year.
– The cases we deal with in the organization committee are actually confidential, but as you now know, we have dealt with a notification case and concluded. Then I can not say much more about why our conclusion has become as it is, says the leader of the organization committee in Frp, Anni Skogman, to TV 2.
The new organizing committee wants to be clear that incidents of a “metoo character” are not accepted in the party.
– That is correct, says Skogman, who took over as leader in December last year.
– Is not exclusion from politics for two years strict?
– We believe this is a correct reaction for the case we have dealt with, she says.
At the same time, she emphasizes that there is no “culture” in the party.
– With us, as unfortunately in some other organizations, there are some episodes we would like to be without. But having said that, we are generally very, very good in the party, she says.
The five-member organizing committee acts on behalf of the FRP’s central board, and the decision cannot be appealed.
Vestlie does not want to comment on the sanctions against TV 2.
Metoo discussion at the bar
The episode he is being punished for happened at the annual meeting of Innlandet Frp at the Scandic hotel in Hamar in February this year.
After the political discussions throughout the day, participants enjoyed themselves in the bar, and there the question of what exactly is metoo was discussed, say sources who were present.
The local team leader behaved in this connection in a way that got several shop stewards in Frp who were present to notify the organization committee, according to key sources.
They believed that Vestlie violated the FRP’s ethical regulations for sexual harassment when he “demonstrated” to a young member of the FpU where the boundaries of metoo go.
FRP has tightened its ethical rules for sexual abuse and harassment, and leading shop stewards and employees of FRP have duty to notify about violations of the rules.
This should be the reason why several people announced the episode, which according to people at the annual meeting created a great commotion.
Satisfied with clarification
In the aftermath of the incident, it has been claimed by key politicians in the Inland FRP that the local party leadership was removed by political opponents before the nomination for the county council election.
The leader of the organizing committee denies that the case is about a power struggle.
– What I can say is that we are very concerned about treating all cases in a proper and proper way, and the case we have handled is not a matter of power struggle, says Skogman.
County leader Morten Ørsal Johansen does not want to comment on the content of the case, but is glad it has ended.
– I am pleased that the metoo case has been completed, so we do not have to have it hanging over us, he says.
Several central sources in Innlandet Frp say the case divides the party into two camps, but Ørsal Johansen denies this.
– This case here does not divide the Inland, he says.
Banned from nomination match
Vestlie was very central in the campaign to get Carl I Hagen elected in the Storting for Oppland in last year’s election.
The exclusion from office and party meetings means that he can not participate in the upcoming battle over who will be elected for FRP to the county council next year. He also does not have the opportunity to become a candidate for the municipal council for Frp.
This has not affected the treatment in the organization committee, which has only taken a position on the specific incident, says Skogman.
– That the suspension has consequences, it is now so. For us, it is only important that this is a reaction we believe is correct. We want to come up with reactions that we believe are appropriate in relation to the cases we process, she says.
The choice of organization has spoken to several witnesses in addition to the parties, she states.
– We believe we have arrived at a correct sanction in this case, says the leader of the committee.
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