Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) says that she has not fulfilled her duty as a minister: Through her own investment company, her husband Ola Flem has traded shares on Oslo Børs – among other things in the arms manufacturer Kongsberg Gruppen – while she has been foreign minister. – Anniken Huitfeldt has made mistakes related to competence. The husband’s buying and selling of shares has meant that she has been incompetent in matters in the government and ministries. She should have obtained an overview of the stock transactions, so that she could assess her integrity, said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at a press conference this afternoon. – This is a serious matter because impartiality is about trust. Støre repeats, as he stated earlier today, that he believes in Huitfeldt’s explanation, and that he still has confidence in the foreign minister. He justifies this by saying that Huitfeldt would have declared herself incompetent if she had known. Anniken Huitfeldt and her husband Ola Flem. Photo: Naina Helen Jåma / NTB An overview from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows that there are over 100 transactions in the Huitfeldt case. – Based on an assessment from the legal department, there is reason to believe that I have been incompetent in several cases, says Huitfeldt at a press conference this afternoon. Make changes Støre states on Wednesday afternoon that the Prime Minister’s office is updating the Handbook for political management and tightening the guidelines for buying and selling shares for politicians in the government apparatus. A total of 13 new pages have been added to the government’s law book. If the politicians have shares when they take office, they can choose between selling them, “freezing” the ownership or having someone else manage the shares. The handbook also makes it clearer what a politician must do if the spouse owns shares. Støre explains that the changes have been made in the light of the summer’s several cases about competence. In addition, the Legal Department has carried out a thorough assessment, which is also the basis for the new guidelines. – Competence does not seem to be this government’s strongest point. Why is that?, asks news. – It is because we have put full focus on competence. It is a responsibility I take on, replies Støre. Støre said earlier today that Huitfeldt himself took the initiative to survey and clean up in early August. Unknowingly incompetentAnniken Huitfeldt has broken the government’s competence rules. Even though her husband’s share purchase has been unknown to her, she herself has not fulfilled the responsibility of acquiring all knowledge that could affect her competence. It is she herself who, just too late, has brought presented this information and gave it to the civil service, the prime minister and the press. Both of them, even if the prime minister thinks she can continue in her job as foreign minister. It is difficult to understand how Huitfeldt did not even from day one demand a list of the individual shares from her husband. It seems that whether the husband wanted to have watertight bulkheads between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and his own investments to avoid problems of integrity. There is a wrong perception of the regulations. The Minister for Foreign Affairs must know in order to be able to act in line with the regulations. To deny her knowledge is to make the situation worse, not better, even if it is done in good faith. Since this is far from the first competency case for the Støre government, the case becomes more serious than itself. It underpins the impression of a cultural problem and too little awareness of the regulations. Therefore, this is a scratch in the paint for more than Huitfeldt. The prime minister, the party and the government as a whole are also affected. It is therefore extremely important that this case becomes part of the control committee’s review of how this and previous governments work with integrity. Huitfeldt has not been able to enrich herself with the knowledge she did not have. That distinguishes the case from Ola Borten Moe, who could potentially use knowledge for his own gain. She has not been able to know about her ties, that distinguishes the case from the cases of Brenna and Trettebergstuen who knew about their direct and indirect ties. The fact that all the competency cases are different strengthens the impression that the overall awareness of competency cases is too poor. It may also be the case in previous governments. It is right that the Control Committee is also looking at this. That the Labor Party gets another competency case in the important election campaign rush is extra devastating. It potentially destroys the opportunities of completely innocent local politicians who lose positions and power in their local everyday life far away from the government’s innermost circles. Want to clear things up – I don’t think anyone got any wiser by listening to the Prime Minister’s press conference. Støre appeases Huitfeldt by saying that the regulations were not detailed enough for her to understand. It does not hold water. The regulations’ obligations have been there in black and white, and one must be able to expect that the country’s top leaders are able to understand the purpose of the regulations, writes Venstres Grunde Almeland in an e-mail after the press conference. He adds: – Anniken Huitfeldt knew that her husband’s share ownership could affect her competence, then she should also have realized that it was important to ask about which shares the husband owned. Huitfeldt claims she did not know about the man’s share purchase, and therefore believes her own disqualification has not affected matters in the government. Nevertheless, she admits that she has been aware that the man has had some individual shares, without knowing which ones. – I am sorry that I have put myself in this situation, and want to clean up, says Huitfeldt. It is tidiest to clean up, not to retire, says Huitfeldt. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB The Minister for Foreign Affairs states that she informed her husband about the Political Handbook for Political Leadership – the government’s handbook for integrity rules – when she took office in the government. Furthermore, she says that she advised him specifically to avoid gun stocks. When asked about this by news, Huitfeldt replies as follows: – It was a crazy decision on his part, says Huitfeldt, but emphasizes that she takes full responsibility for the mistake that has been made. Huitfeldt also advocates that it is right to continue in his position as foreign minister. When asked directly whether it would not be orderly to retire, she replies: – I don’t think so. I think it is right to clean up. – I register that the Prime Minister has confidence in me and I relate to that, she adds. When asked where the money has been made from, she replies that she does not know, but that she believes it has been placed in a mutual fund. She also refers to the lists the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has. It was VG who mentioned the case first. Anniken Huitfeldt Born 29 November 1969 Norway’s Minister for Foreign Affairs since 14 October 2021. Minister for Children and Equality from February 2008 to October 2009, Minister for Culture from 2009-2012, Minister for Labor from 2012 to 2013. Has sat in the Storting for the Labor Party in Akershus since 2005. Sat in the Labor Party’s central board from 2002, in 2023 Huitfeldt announced that she would not stand for re-election. Involved in school politics with an office since 1986, AUF leader from 1996 to 2000. Has a major in history and an undergraduate degree in political science and geography from the University of Oslo and the London School of Economics, professional background as a researcher at Fafo 2000–2005. Source: Stortinget, NTB – Wants Huitfeldt to attend the hearing Peter Frølich, head of the Storting’s control and constitution committee, was also informed early on Wednesday about the breaches of competence. He describes the conversation with Huitfeldt as orderly. Head of the Storting’s Control and Constitution Committee, Peter Frølich. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news – These new breaches of integrity are serious, and come in a series of previous serious breaches of integrity. The control committee already has a lot on the table with the cases related to Borten Moe, Brenna and Trettebergstuen. From the Conservative Party’s side, it is nevertheless quite clear that the Storting’s control case must now be expanded, he says. Furthermore, he says that this disclosure has come about because the control committee started a full review of the government’s handling of the integrity rules. – It shows that it was a necessary and correct decision. In addition, Frølich states that the Conservative Party will take the initiative to have Huitfeldt attend the upcoming hearing in the control committee. Integrity cases in the control committee Head of the control and constitution committee at the Storting, Peter Frølich, right-winger, says the case of Anniken Huitfeldt is serious, and that it will be natural for them to look into it. A unanimous control committee decided a month ago to open a control case against the government’s handling of competence issues. The investigation comes as a consequence of the cases where first Minister of Knowledge Tonje Brenna (Ap), and then Minister of Culture Anette Trettebergstuen (Ap) and finally Minister of Research and Higher Education Ola Borten Moe (Sp) admitted a breach of the rules for impartiality in the government. Trettebergstuen and Borten Moe resigned from their jobs as ministers, but Brenna has remained in office with the support of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap). The Labor Party’s three representatives on the committee also agreed to the investigation. The Control and Constitution Committee is the only committee in the Storting that can deal with matters on its own initiative. The decision to start a separate investigation can be made by a third of the committee’s members, which means that a minimum of four of the committee’s members must support a proposal to initiate an investigation. From before, Anette Trettebergstuen (Ap) and Ola Borten Moe (Sp) have had to resign due to integrity issues. Tonje Brenna (Ap) has also admitted mistakes, but still sits as Minister of Knowledge. Støre explains that the differences in the various cases are whether or not they knew they were incompetent. What makes the case special UiO professor of administrative law, Karl Harald Søvig, points out that what is special about this case is that the minister did not know about her husband’s share positions. – That makes the case special, and raises the big question: How much should a cabinet position stand in the way of a spouse’s ability to trade shares like everyone else. He emphasizes that he has not read the legal department’s assessments, but understands it to mean that the legal department has assessed that she is incompetent, but that the decisions are nevertheless valid. – In the wake of this case, one must of course discuss the extent to which both spouses and other close relatives of ministers should be able to trade individual shares, concludes Søvig.
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Changes the guidelines after Huitfeldt admission – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
