BERGEN/ØYGARDEN (Aftenposten): AP’s almost 100-year hegemony as the country’s largest party in all elections could end in one week. Jonas Gahr Støre says that it is not the most important thing for him – and that he will remain in office regardless of the election result.
Labor Party leader and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is on the hunt for voters in Western Norway. Here he looks at scrap that young people associated with the Fremtidshavet foundation have picked from the shore at Øygarden. Photo: Olav Olsen
sea view
Published: 03/09/2023 12:22
Updated: 03/09/2023 16:17
The distance between them has decreased. But there is still a long way to go before Høyre and Erna Solberg. 7 percentage points must be gained by Støre in one week. On the average of the measurements lies Ap of 20.4 per cent, against Høyre’s 27.8.
Internally in Ap, people have begun to come to terms with the fact that this may be the first election since the general election in 1924. When a joint list of the Conservatives and Liberal Liberals received 32 percent of the vote and became the largest. where Ap does not become the country’s largest party.
Even during the so-called right-wing wave and the Yapp era in the 80s, Ap was always the biggest. The party often got up to 40 percent of the vote.
A hegemony that has lasted for almost exactly 100 years can therefore break on Støre’s watch.
– It is historic if the Conservative Party becomes bigger than the Labor Party?
– There have been major events in history, Støre replies.
Remains seated – no matter what
We fly with the Ap leader to rainy and stormy weather in Bergen on Sunday morning.
– Can you catch up with the Right now?
– I have faith that we can lift ourselves up. Many are now sitting on the fence and deciding towards the end, so we have potential. But we have to trigger it, replies Støre.
– But take them back?
– We will do everything we can. But there is no prize waiting for whoever reaches the finish line first. The most important thing for me is the elections in all the individual municipalities and the days afterwards.
By that he is referring to the negotiations on mayoral powers in the days after election night.
– But it is a goal to become bigger than Høyre?
– Yes, as in sports, it is always nice to be first and biggest. But that is not the most important thing. What is important is what happens in the individual municipality.
– Will you stay in office regardless of the election result?
– Yes.
Støre says that the election campaign push for Ap will largely be about care for the elderly. This is the most important issue of the election campaign, he believes.
AP’s message is that it should not be possible for private, commercial companies to make money from elderly care. The aim is comprehensive, publicly owned and managed care for the elderly in all the country’s municipalities.
To Bergen immediately
Internally in Ap, the most important thing now is the so-called “fights within the fight”, not remaining the country’s largest party.
By this is meant the battle for the largest cities, as well as the battle for the Labor Party bastions, which the party lost to the Center Party in 2019. Then the Center Party made strong choices and took power in many traditional Labor municipalities.
Two elections support the narrative that national support is not decisive in municipal elections: 2011 and 2019.
In the municipal elections in 2011, Ap received 31.7 percent. A good result, which nevertheless led to Ap falling back in the number of mayors. The Conservatives took control of almost all the big cities. In 2019, Labor received 24.7 per cent. The miserable result paid just as much in the number of mayors. The party made a clean sweep in the biggest cities. The largest city Høyre governs today is Sandefjord.
– 2019 is the best example of this, says Støre.
Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre holds an appeal before house visits in Loddefjord in Bergen. Photo: Olav Olsen / Aftenposten
sea view
Even city battle
The battles for the cities will be even. Smoother than Ap had imagined before the summer. Neither Trondheim nor Tromsø is considered “won”. And hope lives on for all the other big cities. Also the traditionally blue cities of Stavanger and Bergen, Conservative leader Erna Solberg’s hometown.
The fact that Ap has stabilized at a higher level than before the summer, in combination with the fall of the Conservative Party, means that many municipalities are in play. This is what is being said when Støre and the Labor Party now enter the thrust of the election campaign.
How Ap lands in the big cities also has a lot to say about the national election result. Every single percentage point here means thousands of voters.
For Støre, the trip first goes to Bergen. The allotted time in the western capital included, among other things, two house visits (not door knocking, as the Conservatives call it).
– We mobilize. Many voters have been undecided and are making up their minds now. We see that they say to us. And the Conservative Party was fully mobilized and falling, Støre said in his appeal before the house visits.
Liv Rolland (56) had an unexpected suitor at her door on Sunday. The visit by Ap leader Jonas Gahr Støre was very well received. – It was very nice, and very surprising. I wasn’t quite ready once, she says to Aftenposten. Photo: Olav Olsen / Aftenposten
sea view
Budget leaks in the briefcase
Støre also has a weapon in his arsenal that Erna Solberg does not: budget leaks. On Thursday and Friday, the government held a budget conference. Here, in practice, next year’s state budget was nailed down.
A clarified budget provides opportunities in the election campaign.
– We will use some cases from the budget to illustrate our policy. Then the budget as a whole will come in October, says Støre.
It did not take long before the first budget leak was served. Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) appeared at Arna station. Together, the two presented the news that the government is adding NOK 300 million to next year’s budget to ensure better traffic between Bergen and Voss.
Then the trip goes to Stavanger.
It didn’t take long before the first budget leak was served. Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) appeared at Arna Station. Together, the two presented the news that the government is adding NOK 300 million to next year’s budget to ensure better traffic between Bergen and Voss. Photo: Olav Olsen / Aftenposten
sea view
2023-09-03 14:05:57
#historically #bad #choice #Støre #stay #put
