The government overrides the city council in Kristiansand and gives the municipalities Søgne and Songdalen referendums on divorce. Labor rapporteur Oddvar Skisland in the capital of southern Norway reacts strongly.
Updated less than 20 minutes ago
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In 2020, Kristiansand, Søgne and Songdalen were merged into one large municipality, but the opposition has been great – especially in Søgne, writes NRK.
On 1 December last year, the city council in Kristiansand decided to stop the process of dissolving the merged large municipality. The decision in the city council was made by 39 to 32 votes
Now, however, it seems that Søgne and Sogndalen get their way after the government has chosen to overrule the city council. Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) says Dagbladet Tuesday that a referendum is planned in Søgne.
–Breach of trust
Mayor Jan Oddvar Skisland in Kristiansand is shocked and calls the decision a major breach of trust.
– My strongest reaction is that they are reviewing a decision of the city council in Norway’s fifth largest city, a decision that has to do with local conditions. I think that’s unheard of. We can not have it like that, he says to VG.
During the election campaign last year, Vedum cited Søgne as an example of forcibly merged municipalities that could secede as soon as the Center Party came to power. The precondition was that there is a majority for reversal in the city council.
The Labor Party did not agree, and thus there was no point in the government platform.
Criticizes own party leaders
– I have already given notice that we can not be run over on local decisions. Here, one must respect the municipal councils’ decisions, says Skisland.
– How has the process been between you and the government before the decision?
– There has been no process on this, so this came as a total surprise to us. We thought we were done with this case a long time ago.
The Labor Party’s party secretary Kjersti Stenseng says in a written comment to NTB that she understands that “there will be reactions in a case where there is great disagreement and a lot of commitment”.
She promises that the consequences of a possible division will be mapped.
– The government will now map and make visible the consequences of a possible division and give the citizens the opportunity to have their say. Therefore, we take the initiative for a study, and we will facilitate a process with good dialogue with the municipality and the municipality’s employees, says Stenseng.
– Will listen
The Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs confirms that a process is being started to investigate the division of the new Kristiansand municipality.
– The opposition to the forced merger was great among people in Søgne and Songdalen, and citizens’ initiatives and surveys show that the opposition is still great. We will listen to that, and we are now starting the process by giving this task to the state administrator, says Minister of Local Government and District Affairs Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp), in a press release.
Referendums will be held in connection with the local elections in 2023.
– If more than half vote for division in Søgne and Songdalen, respectively, the government will listen to it, says Gjelsvik.
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