In late October, the government gave green light for county information. Troms and Finnmark quickly filed for divorce.
Now the Inland can go the same way.
A narrow majority thinks the county municipality will conduct a so-called advisory referendum on the dissolution of the Inland before a final decision in February next year. 29 representatives voted in favor of the referendum, while 28 voted against.
NRK
explains
What is an advisory referendum?
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Referendums can increase confidence
Local advisory referendums can be used by municipalities to find out the citizens’ opinions on various issues
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Long tradition of local and regional polls
Local referendums have a long history in Norway. Issues related to language and alcohol in particular have traditionally been the subject of referendums.
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Must apply to important topics
Matters taken to a local referendum must, in accordance with the Local Government Act § 12-2, apply « the municipality’s or county municipality’s activities ». This means that a local referendum must apply to topics that are linked to conditions that the municipality itself can decide on or have an influence on.
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Municipal referendums can not be binding
Norwegian municipalities cannot hold binding referendums. Municipalities can design and conduct referendums as they wish, but they will in any case be advisory to the municipal council.
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Dramatic tuning
14 days ago, the Supervisory Board joined Inland Labor Party in for a resounding no to dissolve the large county. Thus, most people thought it was the nail in the coffin and that there was no chance of a majority for the proposal today.
But that was not the case. The support came from unexpected quarters. The Labor Party’s Erik S. Winther went against the group on Wednesday and voted in favor of a referendum.
DECIDED: 78-year-old Winther announced in 2018 that he would make a comeback in politics when Hedmark and Oppland were merged into one county. Today he arranged for a referendum.
Photo: Anders Bakkerud Larsen / NRK
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When the party’s county council group considered the case at the end of November, Winther was the only one who did not vote for Innlandet to survive.
Work hard for resolution
As in many of the other counties that were merged as part of the government Solberg’s municipal and regional reform in 2019 and 2020, there were major disputes in Hedmark and Oppland when the two counties were merged into the Inland on 1 January 2020.
Both the Center Party and the Labor Party, which now sit with power together in the county council, were against the new county.
The Center Party has worked very hard for a dissolution, and has promoted a referendum. MDG, Raudt, SV, the Pensioners’ Party and Frp had all signaled support for the proposal.
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