Already one week ago, the Labor leader announced that he would take the trip to Sørlandet to meet Kristiansand mayor Jan Oddvar Skisland and other angry party colleagues. When news confronts Støre with a number of questions on the way into the Storting hall for the NATO debate on Thursday, he repeats the promise to travel south. But no date has yet been set. – I’m talking to them, and I’ll be visiting Kristiansand. Then we will find a date for it, it is a hectic end now, both in the Storting and with international meetings. But I will definitely have meetings with them. Jonas Gahr Støre was in the Storting on Thursday to follow the debate on NATO applications to Sweden and Finland. Photo: Henrik Myhr Nielsen / news The government’s decision on a referendum in Søgne and Songdalen has set minds on fire in Kristiansand Ap. They fear for the fate of the merged municipality and believe the government’s handling is failing. – We have many contact points It is the Labor Party’s government partner the Center Party that has trumped through the decision. Søgne and Songdalen were merged with Kristiansand in 2020, but local action groups in the two smaller municipalities have always demanded a rematch. Labor veteran Kari Henriksen, who is himself from Kristiansand, already went out on Wednesday last week with strong criticism of his own party leadership. Henriksen, who sits in the Storting’s presidency, demanded that party leader Jonas Gahr Støre and party secretary Kjersti Stenseng immediately take the trip south. – It has been an experience of unreality that this has actually happened. I miss that the municipal and regional apparatus is informed. I am disappointed with the process, Henriksen told news. On Thursday morning – on her way to a Storting meeting on NATO applications to Finland and Sweden – Støre emphasizes that party secretary Kjersti Stenseng has been in Kristiansand and that she has also had other meetings with the mayor and local Labor people. – We have many contact points, says Støre. Last week When news asks the Prime Minister when he last had contact with the mayor or other party colleagues in Kristiansand, Støre answers as follows: – I spoke with the mayor last week. Before the weekend. – The Minister of Local Government is responsible for this case. He is going to Kristiansand on Monday and is in constant contact with the authorities in Kristiansand. We in the party have contact with our party colleagues. There are no problems with that. – How will you ensure that people in Søgne and Songdalen are heard if Kristiansand says no to conducting a referendum? – I do not want to advance that. The Minister of Local Government will discuss this. He will go down and spend time with the municipality on Monday, and then I think they will find good solutions to that. Will not turn around According to Dagbladet, it may be relevant for the government to instruct the state administrator in Agder to conduct a vote among those entitled to vote in Søgne and Songdalen, if the majority of politicians in the city council in the municipality of Kristiansand say no. The newspaper writes that the conflict in the south could end in 10,000 phone calls. – Is a round of calls relevant? – I have no comment on that. They will find out about this with the Minister of Local Government, and they will make it happen. – Will the Labor Party be able to turn in this case and listen to the party colleagues in Kristiansand? – The case has been decided in the government and now the Minister of Local Government is following up the case. – Do you understand the reactions? – Yes, I understand that there is commitment around this. We have worked well to develop municipal services, and then we will see what the result will be. This is a matter to be decided based on the attitudes of these two municipalities, and it is an open question.
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