Local team leader in Rødt Viktor Stein believes Bjørnar Moxnes must resign as party leader after the sunglasses scandal.
Rødt leader Bjørnar Moxnes is in trouble after he was caught stealing a pair of sunglasses at Gardermoen on 16 June. Photo: Olav Olsen / Aftenposten
03.07.2023 08:32
Updated 03/07/2023 13:04
Stein is a local team leader in Rødt Sømna in Nordland and a municipal council representative for Rødt.
– The case should have ended up in the national board as soon as it became known. It would have been best for both Moxnes and the party if he had immediately taken the initiative to step down as party leader, says Stein to Aftenposten.
He supports the request from county leader Kjell Oldeide in Rødt Sogn og Fjordane that the matter should be discussed in the county council. It was NRK who mentioned the matter first.
Party secretary Reidar Strisland stated to NRK on Sunday that there was no need for such a meeting. Stein reacts to that.
– I sent a message to the party secretary, Reidar Strisland, and expressed that it was orderly that the matter be discussed in the national board before the party says that they still have confidence in Moxnes.
– Management has a special responsibility. It is unfortunate, harmful and undemocratic that they came out with a statement of support so quickly.
Believes the bylaws are being violated
He believes that, among other things, the party violates section 4.1 4.1 § 4 Organizational principle: 1. Raudt must be an open organization characterized by mutual respect, where differences are valued and policy is developed in a working community. Local teams and members must make differences known in the party in order to contribute to political development and a real party democracy, (direct extract from Rødt’s statutes, revised April 2023). and 4,24,2§ 4 Organizational principle: 2. The leadership at all levels has a special responsibility for minority views being known and actually dealt with in the party, (direct extract from Rødt’s statutes, revised April 2023). in the statutes by expressing support for the party leader before the question has been dealt with in the national board.
– Doesn’t it directly state in the statutes that clauses 4.1 and 4.2 entail a hearing in the county council?
– No, but it is an obvious logical consequence, comments local team leader Stein.
When asked whether local team leader Stein’s statements about Moxnes could damage the party’s reputation, he flatly replies no.
– This is about trust. It was destroyed step by step when Moxnes chose not to act in a trusting manner.
– Has expressed confidence
Strisland stated to NTB on Sunday that one does not depend on a meeting to confirm trust.
He stated that he has been in contact with the party’s national board representatives and says that everyone he has heard from has expressed confidence in Bjørnar Moxnes as party leader.
– A couple have thought it might be a point to gather the national board anyway, but the vast majority have expressed that there is no reason to meet. It is the central board which, if necessary, convenes the national board. There is no basis for such an initiative, said Strisland.
A majority in the central board say they also have confidence in Moxnes on Monday, write TV 2.
Takes attention away from political matters
To Klassekampen, a number of former party leaders, such as Torstein Dahle, Aslak Sira Myhre and Finn Sjue, also express support for Moxne’s support. They all agree that Moxnes should continue as party leader, and that he and the party must learn from the incident.
However, former RV leader Sigurd Allern is worried that the sunglasses case of Bjørnar Moxnes will overshadow politics in the autumn elections.
– The case and the slightly changing explanations can damage confidence in Moxnes as leader, at least in the short term, Allern says to The class struggle.
He believes the case can take attention away from political matters, including within the party.
Allern was party leader for Rødt’s predecessor, Rød Valgallianse, and is worried that the clumsy handling could damage the party.
Friday revealed Romerikes Blad that on 16 June Bjørnar Moxnes took a pair of Hugo Boss glasses out of the store at Gardermoen without paying the price of NOK 1,199. He was discovered and accepted a proposal of NOK 3,000.
Changed explanation
Moxnes has several times adjusted his own description of what happened.
On Friday, Moxnes said that he had taken the sunglasses off at speed by mistake. The same applies to what happened when a security guard confronted him that he had taken a pair of glasses. He initially said he took out the glasses and gave them to the security guard when he was contacted. Later that day, Moxne changed his explanation. He tells Aftenposten that he was perplexed and that he initially denied having taken the sunglasses to the security guard. Later that day, Moxnes changed his details to VG: He is no longer sure when he gave up the glasses. He took the guard into another room before paying for them in the shop. Klassekampen’s editor Mari Skurdal. Photo: Tomm Christiansen
– Red has many skilled profiles who can take over
Klassekampen’s editor Mari Skurdal writes in a leading position that Moxnes himself must assess whether his ability to be “a powerful political premise supplier has weakened”. She writes that it is not necessarily an unmanageable crisis for the party if Moxnes leaves the helm to others, and that Rødt has many skilled profiles who can take over.
“For so long, the party is giving up on the Rødt leader, but nothing is written in stone in this strange matter”, writes Skurdal.
Moxnes writes in an e-mail to Klassekampen that he has done something that casts a shadow over Rødt’s politics. “I’m sorry about that. I depend on the trust of the party. I have said that I do not cling to the stool.”
Rødt is the largest owner of Klassekampen with a share of nearly 20 per cent.
– Not a favorable situation
Speaking to Aftenposten, Skurdal elaborates on why she believes it is still open whether Moxnes can continue as party leader.
– This is a case that has been developing throughout the weekend, and where new details have gradually come to light. In a party, the first step would be to look after a leader who has, after all, been in office for over 11 years and with whom there is no expressed dissatisfaction.
– Then you gradually have to start thinking about strategy. What makes sense? What will the election campaign be like? Are there other assessments to be entered? Was this an accidental accident, how should one understand the matter itself? After all, he himself first tried to present it as a trifle, and then was drawn more and more into the fact that he tore off the price tag. He himself says that there was a kind of panic because of his public role. The party members must now find out which version they prefer, and how it will affect the election campaign further. So these are assessments that will come, says Skurdal.
– You write that he himself must assess whether his ability to be a “powerful political premise provider is weakened”. What is your assessment?
– In all debates, party leader debates and plays, there will be a mixture of humor or a bit of half-bullying around this issue. It is clear that it is not a favorable situation. I am also thinking of all those around the country who are now going to stand up and try to get municipal and county board representation. It’s the first thing everyone around is going to ask about, she says.
Skurdal states that the case has become a burden in the party’s election campaign.
– Then you don’t know how long it will last. It may well be that more will pass, but it is clear that so close to the election campaign, it will affect how he and other Rødt members are met around them.
2023-07-03 10:30:00
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