7 Sep 2023 05:43 – Updated Sep 7 2023 05:43
MDG leader Arild Hermstad hopes the FRP and everyone who wants to cooperate with them will be the election’s big losers.
In the days leading up to the election, ABC News publishes interviews with the leaders of the parties in the Storting.
As ABC Nyheter makes contact with MDG’s party leader, Arild Hermstad, he has just got home and laid down on the sofa. Jonas Gahr Støre has just held a press conference, after it became known that Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt’s husband has carried out several share purchases that disqualify her as Foreign Minister.
– I just got home to my wife, whom I haven’t seen for a few days. She could tell that she doesn’t have that many shares, so I don’t have to worry about it, says Hermstad jokingly.
– From joking to seriousness. Are you satisfied with the job Støre has done as Prime Minister?
– No, I can’t say that. One thing is the crisis of confidence he inflicts on all politicians by the fact that they have so little order in their own house in the government. It clearly affects him the most, but it also affects the whole of political Norway. Right now I think it’s pretty bad, says Hermstad, with Huitfeldt’s breach of trust in mind.
On Wednesday morning, it became known that Anniken Huitfeldt’s husband has carried out several share purchases that disqualify her as foreign minister. This is the fourth integrity case in the government this summer.
– A kind of European record
The competency issues are one thing, but Hermstad also believes that the government excels at talking a lot about the climate and nature conservation in particular, and then doing the opposite of what they say when they act.
– Environmental policy is going the wrong way. It is a disappointment, says the MDG leader, and continues:
– They set a kind of European record in empty talk when it comes to the environment, which I find quite disappointing. When they signed the Hurdal platform, they said that climate and nature should be a framework around all politics. It has been a total flop so far.
Hermstad also thinks it is particularly disappointing that the Labor Party has not been able to avoid the explosion in poverty that we have seen in the last six months.
– They have acted too slowly there.
– What is the biggest political mistake in Norway in 2023?
– I could mention more, but in the long run I think the Melkøya decision will appear to be a serious mistake in the future.
At the beginning of August, the government decided to go in for the electrification of Melkøya. This means that the gas power plant at the Melkøya plant will be shut down, and that it will be operated with power from the normal power grid.
(The article continues below the picture).
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) in front of Equinor’s facility on Melkøya outside Hammerfest. Read more Close
In the sieve
At the end of November 2022, Hermstad was elected as the new MDG leader, and the transition from deputy leader to party leader has been great, according to the Bergen.
– You feel much more responsible. Being able to stand at the forefront of so many talented people is an incredible privilege, and I feel we are fighting for the most important cause in the world, which makes the responsibility extra big. It feels more important than I had imagined, he says.
On November 22, when Hermstad took over as party leader for MDG, the party had a support of 3.8 per cent according to Poll of Poll’s average of national opinion polls about general elections. A year later, the party stands at 3.9 percent. Hermstad is aware of the small progress, but he does not seem particularly worried.
– For my part, the national average doesn’t matter that much, as long as we approach seven percent in municipal surveys. It is the municipal elections that are important now, he says.
During the day, he enjoys the rush of the local election campaign, which he stresses is very, very fun. He feels the party is in the thick of things with the local election campaign.
– There are a lot of candidates who come forward. For us, the local elections are not only about climate and nature, but also about reducing differences. It is important for us to take care of everyone, and we are keen to show that we want to create more green jobs throughout the country. This is how we believe we will be able to create good local communities, both in the towns and villages in Norway, he says.
– What do you think are the MDG’s biggest challenges?
– Elbowing their way into Norwegian politics. We are bloc-independent, and both the right and the left see us as a threat that they don’t know how to deal with. We want to change the rules of the game for politics in Norway, which is quite a high ambition to have.
Dice roll 1
As of today, MDG has only one mayor. In Vardø. Hermstad thinks it would be fantastic if they manage to triple that number, but he emphasizes that it is not that important.
– We can leave it to the other parties to count mayors if we can get the political approval. It is about the environment, justice and green business, he says.
After the party leader debate on TV 2 last week, Hermstad was given a 1 by TV 2’s commentator, Aslak M. Eriksrud.
– How do you think it went?
– I’m very pleased. The rules of the game are such that you don’t get much speaking time. Then it was important for me to show that the MDGs have good solutions both for the animal age we are in, environmental policy and the other issues we talked about yesterday, he says.
(The article continues below the picture).
Arild Hermstad, party leader in MDG, is putting everything into seizing power in Oslo, but succeeds to a lesser extent in setting the agenda nationally. Read more Close
Five quick
– What is the most embarrassing thing you have had to do as a politician?
– It was an embarrassing moment when I was on Supernytt and was singled out as the one with the best dad jokes of all the party leaders, and I couldn’t come up with a single dad joke either. It was too big of an audience, so I got an iron blanket, but I think my two sons can sign that I have extremely bad dad jokes.
– Which is your personal heart?
– Stopping the climate crisis, the biggest cause of solidarity in this century.
– When did you last eat red meat?
Hermstad spends a long time thinking. When was that, he mutters to himself. He says it wasn’t that long ago, but he still struggles to remember when it was.
– There won’t be so much red meat, in other words?
– It is usually deer or elk. It was probably three or four weeks ago, he says.
And it has been even longer since the party leader got really drunk.
– My wife and I were in Spain shortly after number one was born. We had found a babysitter and went to Granada. Then my wife drank me under the table, laughs Hermstad. This was 25 years ago.
He hasn’t stopped drinking since then, but he admits that there isn’t much alcohol when he first starts drinking. Two beers, maybe three.
– Who will be the election’s big loser?
– I hope the FRP and everyone who wants to cooperate with them will lose, because they are not concerned with solidarity for those who are vulnerable.
About an hour after Hermstad has hung up, a text message from the party leader ticks in.
“Embarrassing: now realize that I was served good, homemade meat pies at my mother’s in Bergen on Sunday”.
2023-09-07 03:43:57
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