“Now I know what it’s like to be in the middle of a media hurricane. The wolf pack is after me, and it will be very difficult to defend myself.” The diary notes from 2012 made the feelings from that time well up again, says former SV leader Audun Lysbakken. “Retraumatizing”, is the word he uses. – I have held important positions of power in society and must expect criticism. But those weeks there were a complete nightmare, says Lysbakken. He has one year left before he steps down from the Storting and national politics. This week he publishes his memoirs. “I alle dager” – is a book about his years at the top of Norwegian politics. MEDIA CRITICISM: Lysbakken wants a debate on the media’s role in so-called scandalous cases. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news There he writes about the case that ended with him resigning as minister for children and families and tells how furious he was with Jens Stoltenberg in the days after his departure. – Why talk about this now, almost 13 years later? – I want my version to be found, but perhaps the most important thing is to contribute to a debate about the power of the media. About what it’s like when the blood fog settles and the media storms really set in, he says. Facts about Audun Lysbakken Born 30 September 1977. Brought up in Bergen, living in Holmlia in Oslo. Elected to the Storting from Hordaland for the first time in 2001. Deputy leader of SV from 2005 to 2012. Party leader from 2012 to 2023. Minister of State in the Ministry of Children and Families from under the Stoltenberg government from 2009 to 2012. Made mistakes In a nutshell, the scandal was about grants of NOK 154,000 from the SV-controlled Ministry of Children and Families to the organization Jenteforsvaret. The money was to finance self-defence courses for girls. The problem was that the organization was affiliated with SV’s youth party Sosialistisk Ungdom and that, according to the Ministry of Finance, the funds should have been announced. In addition, Lysbakken also ended up in a competency case related to the Reform foundation. And when it turned out that all documents in the Jenteforsvar case had not been made public, as he had publicly assured, the criticism reached a new level. MADE MISTAKES: Lysbakken admits that he made several mistakes in 2012. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news – I made a huge mistake. I said we have nothing to hide, that we will present everything. And then it just turned out to be extremely much more difficult than I had thought, to find all mention of a case in a ministry’s enormous paper mill, says Lysbakken today. – But you yourself have used the word culture of responsibility many times. Doesn’t that mean that you have to put up with criticism if you’ve done something wrong? – Yes, politicians must receive criticism all the time. But a culture of responsibility must not mean that taking responsibility becomes the same as admitting that you are a bandit or a villain. “Everything broke apart” news has read the chapter in which he discusses the intense weeks in 2012. When he stood in the middle of the media storm and fought to survive as minister for children and families, at the same time as he became a father again and worked hard to become SV’s new manager after Kristin Halvorsen. “I started to feel chased,” he writes in the book. One day the young girl again got sick, and an exhausted Lysbakken just lay on the bathroom floor. “I was exhausted, turned inside out, it was all awful and I felt like everything was falling apart, I just couldn’t bear to get up from that floor.” – The case developed into a kind of character assassination of me. With lots of writings about my personal morals. My motives, says Lysbakken. – How have these experiences affected your meeting with other politicians who have stood in the storm then? – I have tried to behave properly towards others. For example, during the integrity cases last year, by emphasizing that there was no judgment on the morals or character of ministers or the former prime minister, only an assessment of the content and seriousness of the cases, he says. – Guardians of morality Lysbakken perceives that the media often turn political scandals into questions of personal morality. This makes the burden unnecessarily large and causes many people to refuse positions in top politics, he believes. – It is not certain that we are served by the fact that it is only the most thick-skinned who will rule us, says Lysbakken. NOT ABLE: Lysbakken says he hasn’t had the nerve to think back to the days in 2012 for a long time. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news He emphasizes that the media play a decisive role in exposing violations of the rules by people in power. – But there is reason to warn against it slipping into becoming a form of guardian of morals and millimetres, says Lysbakken. – Isn’t there a danger that you are now contributing to trivializing the scandals we have had in Norwegian politics in the past years? – No. What I am warning against is the mechanism that easily occurs when the blood mist descends. Then the demand for compliance, for thinking about the people on the other side, is weakened. Furious at Jens In the book, he writes about the family council with his wife Siv, about frequent crisis meetings with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and about SV veteran Erik Solheim, who tried in vain to dissuade him from the idea of resigning as a minister. When the decision was nevertheless made on Monday 5 March 2012, Lysbakken says that it was his own decision and that it was he who informed Stoltenberg. – We already had a good tone, and my respect for him grew during the years I sat in his government. I was nevertheless greatly provoked when, the day after his departure, he went out in the media with a use of words that presented the matter as more serious than I thought it was, writes Lysbakken. FURIOUS: Audun Lysbakken and Jens Stoltenberg pictured during the government’s budget conference, just a few days after the resignation of the prime minister. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB And when media reports with anonymous Ap sources presented it as if Stoltenberg would have forced his departure anyway, Lysbakken was upset. “Rather than helping SV and I get through our most difficult week in one piece, Ap handed out a kick while I was lying down. It was really badly done, and I was furious with Jens,” he writes. news has been in contact with Jens Stoltenberg, who does not want to comment on Lysbakken’s presentation. Fundamental problem Lysbakken believes the episode illustrates a fundamental problem with the red-green government: “We could not trust that the largest party stood up for the partners when we were in trouble,” the book says. – My reaction to Jens at the time was probably mostly about the fact that this was a choice SV had made myself. The sources from Ap helped give a different impression. I thought that was very unnecessary and I was very upset about it. – You write that it was an illustration of a fundamental problem with the red-green government? – I think all three parties actually agree that it was a big challenge in the red-green years with anonymous sources and a lot of criticism back and forth. It was a culture that we were keen to change if we were to form a new government in 2021. And as far as I’m concerned, I have the impression that Jonas Gahr Støre has taken hold of it, says Lysbakken. Published 14.10.2024, at 06.45
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Felt chased – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
