County leader Truls Olufsen-Mehus in KrF Troms and Finnmark says the financial issues KrF leader Kjell Ingolf Ropstad have now had to apologize, weaken confidence in him.
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– Ropstad seems willing to take the consequences of what has been a bad decision. It is positive that he will make up for it and that he apologizes. But what emerges now shakes confidence in Ropstad as party leader, Olufsen-Mehus maintains to VG.
Ropstad met the press on Friday to apologize for a tax evasion, which made him save 175,000 kroner in taxes. Aftenposten has revealed this. The newspaper has previously written that he was registered at home with their parents, while he and his family lived in Oslo.
– The party needs to focus on gathering forces after the election, making the necessary evaluations and making a winning recipe together to take back the seat we will have in the Storting.
He adds:
– This case shifts the focus away from what is most important to us in KrF right now after the election. It’s regrettable. I will not say more until I have had a meeting with the county board next week.
– Dare to take all debates
KrF’s parliamentary representative Thorild Brandsdal expects an internal debate in the party.
– It is a terribly boring case, a case that we should have been without. And the one who feels the most about it is probably Kjell Ingolf himself. I expect there will be a debate internally, not just about this. We had a very poor election result, says Brandsdal who believes that the party will turn all stones in the wake of the parliamentary election.
– I think the management debate will be part of it, Brandsdal says to VG. She says that she has a lot of questions and has given some thought to the party and this matter.
– I have not concluded myself yet, but if we are to take the party forward, we must dare to take all debates, including that with the leader if desired in the party, and ask the difficult questions. Then we get to discuss so that the rags fly.
Brandsdal asks himself what messages have been received at what time, but will leave the legal content of the case to the tax authorities. She points out that Ropstad said on Friday that he can not demand trust.
– Kjell Ingolf is a man of flesh and blood and he was reasonably cracked when he stood up today. He needs both love and care, and this can be shown without the condition that you agree with all the dispositions he has made, the former Vennesla mayor believes.
– Should be discussed internally
Oluf Maurud, county leader for KrF in the Inland, calls the case “highly regrettable” and “very serious”. He argues that the party should discuss the matter internally.
– When it emerges that you have speculated and profited from it, it is very unfortunate, says Maurud.
– What consequences should this case have?
– I have not speculated about that now. Now I see that he says he is motivated to move on. I want to hear a little more before I say anything.
–– Tax planning
– Do you trust him as a leader?
– As of now, I have it, but I want to hear more.
Maurud says that there are greater expectations for a KrF leader than others to act correctly.
– There is no party leader who will conduct tax planning and try to enrich himself. No one should do that. But it is clear that when a party leader in KrF does it, it becomes a big issue. Many expect people in KrF not to do that. The expectation that we will not do that is greater for KrF than for others, says Maurud.
– Very harmful to the party
– How harmful do you think these issues are for the party?
– We have more than enough to move forward politically after a bad election. Anything that takes the focus away from it is harmful in itself.
He says that the important thing now is to “talk politics and take the party further”.
– Therefore, this is very harmful for the party, says Maurud.
KrF has planned a national board meeting on Friday 24 September. Maurud argues that the national government should discuss the Ropstad case.
– We should discuss the matter, it is clear. Whether we will take it at the national board meeting or before, I have not thought much about yet.
The leader of Møre og Romsdal KrF believes Kjell Ingolf Ropstad has not done anything wrong: Randi Walderhaug Frisvoll reaches out to Aftenposten – and calls it all “a witch hunt”.
County leader Oddny Helen Turøy in KrF Rogaland also calls the party leader. In a text message to Stavanger Aftenblad she writes:
– Kjell Ingolf has made some bad assessments, and he admits it himself. It is right of him to apologize. I expect him to clean up, as he has said he will. I still have confidence in Kjell Ingolf and believe it is not the right time to discuss the leadership position.
– Good he’s sorry
County leader Bror-Lennart Mentzoni in Vestfold and Telemark is happy that Ropstad regrets the tax move.
He believes that this should not have consequences for the party leadership position.
– I am very happy that he apologizes for the mistakes and misjudgments he has made. Basically, this does not change my view of the job he does as party leader. He does that job in a good way, he says.
He thinks it is stupid that the case takes focus away from KrF’s policy and directs it towards his actions as a private person, related to his duties.
– This is not a type of case you “tolerate”. No quota has been given for such quotas. That said, anyone can make a mistake. I do not think we should have it as standard that we should not forgive when one has made a mistake, he says.
– Have confidence
KrF’s first candidate in the parliamentary elections in Oslo, Espen Andreas Hasle, defends Ropstad.
– He has regretted that he forgot to change the form, which meant that he received less tax. When he promises to clean up this, I will say that I have full confidence in him as party leader, says Hasle.
He who was KrF’s first candidate in Telemark, Oddbjørn Nørstrud, also expresses confidence.
– What he has done has been stupid, but when he has apologized and said that he will clean up in dialogue with the tax authorities, then I think that Ropstad can lead us in the work of rebuilding the party. He has my full confidence, he says.
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