– It’s fantastic, there are an incredible number of voices. Anything can happen, but it’s great, says Pia-Karoline Øfeldt Rygh. She runs the local Mix kiosk in Kjøllefjord, which is an important part of business life in the municipality. Those who had hoped that the wind turbine opponents Senterpartiet and SV would put an end to the planned 300 wind turbines in Lebesby municipality in Finnmark must see the disappointment in their eyes. The Labor Party and the Conservative Party in Lebesby have respectively received 55.4 and 18.9 per cent of the votes in the small municipality with its 999 eligible voters. This shows all the votes that have been counted. 63.1 percent of those entitled to vote voted during this year’s election in Lebesby. – We are very satisfied with the votes we have received so far, says Lise Theodora Rasmussen, leader of Lebesby Ap. She believes the wind power debate has influenced this year’s election. – It is quite clear that the debate has influenced the voters. The Center Party gets 13.9 percent of the vote, a drop of 12.5 from the last election, while SV gets 11.8 percent of the vote. This literally blows the government’s way. The municipal council in Lebesby Lebesby has undefined seats in the municipal council. The places are distributed as follows: – An extremely good job for the municipality When the first votes were cast, Pia-Karoline Øfeldt Rygh came to the Lebesby Labor Party’s election vigil. She was pleased that Ap had received so many votes. She does not hide why she voted the way she did. – Of course I voted for Sigurd Rafelsen. Rafaelsen (Ap) has been mayor for the last period in Lebesby. – He does an extremely good job for the municipality, and he is passionate about things I appreciate. He works a lot for the business world, and I am a big part of it. As general manager at Mix, Øfeldt Rygh sees the business world as many dominoes that have to fall into place. – I think Sigurd sees it and understands these things, and wants people to stay and enjoy themselves here. After the preliminary votes have been counted, Ap makes a snap election in Lebesby municipality. Photo: Gunnar Sætra / news Wind power for electrification Because it is probably the first time in history that the election results in the small municipality of Finnmark have been the subject of as much attention as this year. Two large wind power projects are planned here. Davvi and Laksefjorden wind power plants. The two alone will be able to provide almost 4 TWh of new power production and account for 45 percent of all new wind power capacity NVE has for processing in Finnmark. If they are not built, it will be difficult for Finnmark to reach the government’s power target in 2030. Thus, the election in Lebesby has great national significance. Lebesby municipality already has a wind farm, but now it looks like further development will become a reality. Photo: Gunnar Sætgra / news Two parties for, two parties against The four parties that have stood for election in the municipality are split down the middle. The Conservative Party and the Labor Party welcome wind power, while the Center Party and SV say flatly no. Those who want wind power believe it will create jobs, enough electricity for industrial establishments and, not least, income in the millions for the small municipality. Those who are against believe that 200-300 wind turbines will destroy nature and not least confiscate large reindeer herding areas. Like many other small municipalities in Finnmark, Lebesby is struggling with emigration and negative population growth. The municipality has 1,226 inhabitants, of whom 999 are entitled to vote. 390 submitted advance votes. That is, 40 per cent of those entitled to vote.
ttn-69
The windmill parties with a majority in Lebesby – news Troms and Finnmark
