The Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Secretary General of NATO must spend their time on Ukraine now, the Conservatives believe. But a hearing on the Stoltenberg appointment may come as early as the autumn.
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– There will be no Stoltenberg hearing now.
This is what Peter Frølich (H), leader of the control committee in the Storting, says to VG.
The committee has asked Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp), Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party) and former Minister of Labor Hadia Tajik (Labor Party) a total of 40 questions about the employment by NATO chief and former Labor prime minister Jens Stoltenberg as the new central bank governor.
– Every single question has helped to inform the case, and there has not been one question too many, Frølich says to VG.
The Conservatives will now put the matter on hold this autumn – due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nor does the Liberal Party want to proceed with a control hearing in this round, says Sofie Høgestøl, who sits on the control committee for the Liberal Party, to NTB.
–Does not put the case to death
– Why not now?
– Because the world is on fire. Easily. A consultation requires a great deal of resources from the Prime Minister, other resources in government apparatus and not least from the Secretary General of NATO. They must use all their resources now to help Ukraine.
– But if there had not been a war in Europe now, what would the situation be like then?
– Then it would have been quite different. Then it would have been a highly topical issue to have a hearing.
Frølich says that one occasion may be the review of ministerial minutes in the autumn, where there have previously been rounds of appointments of civil servants.
– We keep the door open so that the case can be taken up again at a more suitable time later. This is not to put the case to death.
Opens for legislative change
Frølich says that the Conservatives have not found any formal impartiality errors in the appointment or violation of the Central Bank Act.
– But we have found weaknesses in the Central Bank Act. We are announcing a major review of it, perhaps to prevent this type of employment from happening in the future. Party appointments at the central bank are very problematic.
The outcome of a change in the law may be to prevent an employment similar to that of Stoltenberg in the future, Frølich confirms.
– We have found interesting indications that it may have been a pre-clarified process. That in itself could have been a basis for consultation.
The control committee follows
The Conservatives are still not happy with all the answers they have received:
– We have not received good answers on how the impartiality problems in the future will be handled for Norway. We have a completely extraordinary situation, with a prime minister who will be incompetent in a meeting with the central bank governor. It is an exceptionally difficult situation they have put the country in, and we are very concerned about how this will go in practice.
The control committee will follow in the future, he says.
– The control committee will have a role in controlling any impartiality problems in the future. They are around the first turn, so this will be difficult for the government.
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