In the municipal council meeting in Lom on Monday evening, mayor Kristian Frisvold opened by declaring war on county council politicians. – We no longer need to be factual, we can go after the person. It means that everything is legal, that is my conclusion on such behaviour, says Frisvold while the floor is his during the meeting. From the podium, he says that he has contacted journalists and asked them to dig into county council politicians from the Labor Party, the Green Party, and his own party Høgre. – We have to get rid of all possible nonsense. If I get documentation, I will use it. That’s how it is. It is war, the mayor states. He also calls on people other than journalists to come forward with information that can be used against the politicians, because “it is clear that factual argumentation is not getting through”. – Anti-democratic Thomas Breen, county mayor from the Inlandet Arbeidarparti, distances himself from the statements of mayor Kristian Frisvold. – Those are strong statements and I distance myself from such statements. It is sad that you end up there and those are very anti-democratic words, says Breen. The county mayor’s statements seem to fit into a pattern in recent weeks with an increasingly harsh change of words. – It has become harder person-focused argumentation and a lot has happened to me. It’s unfortunate, but it’s manageable for me. In the last week, it has spread to apply to several members of the county council, says Breen. The county deputy mayor from Høgre, Hanne Alstrup Velure, also says it is completely unacceptable. – It is exhilarating. – As a mayor, you don’t stand up and say there is a war and talk about other politicians in that way. That’s not how we do it in Norway. Security unit notified As a result of the announcement, the security unit in the county municipality has been notified. – Some feel it is quite threatening, says the county deputy mayor. The mayor is connected to Høgre. Hanne Astrup Velure says that it violates Høgre’s ethical guidelines. – No matter who you do it to, it shouldn’t happen. Our ethical guidelines at Høgre say that we are human beings who want each other’s well-being. This applies not only to ourselves in Høgre, but also to other people and people in other parties. This is unacceptable. Asking him to withdraw the award, Johannes Wahl Gran, group leader in MDG at the county council, says this damages trust in politicians. – We experience this as both threatening and frightening, especially when it comes from a mayor who is the municipality’s political face to the outside world. – Inciting unreasonable and personal attacks on politicians not only undermines trust in the political system, but also creates an unsafe and hostile atmosphere for democratic debate. Now the group leader demands that Frisvold take back the award. – I hope and believe that Kristian Frisvold withdraws this when he has regained his composure a bit. Published 21.10.2024, at 20.35 Updated 21.10.2024, at 21.09
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