Already before Christmas, deputy leader Bjørnar Skjæran stated that he wants to continue in the Ap leadership. Now comes the clarification from Kjersti Stenseng: – I have told the election committee that I want re-election, she says to news. Stenseng makes the announcement a few days after the election committee had its first meeting last week. – My most important motivation is to contribute to the Labor Party governing as many municipalities and counties as possible in the autumn. We need strong community solutions in small and large local communities in troubled times, says Stenseng further. When Stenseng now clarifies that she too wants re-election, it means that the entire current Labor leadership, including party leader Jonas Gahr Støre, will be involved after the national meeting in May. If the 48-year-old from Kvam in Nord-Fron in Gudbrandsdalen is re-elected, after the war it will only be Ivar Leveraas (1975–1986) and Haakon Lie (1945–1969) who have served longer than Stenseng as party secretary. She took over the powerful position, which is part of Ap’s top management, after Raymond Johansen in 2015. TOP: Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre together with party secretary Kjersti Stenseng at Ap’s national board meeting recently. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – Renewal The Labor Party has fallen like a stone in the opinion polls after its election triumph a year and a half ago. At the same time that the party leaders want re-election, it is already clear that there will be changes on several levels: A new deputy leader will probably come in. In that case, the party leadership will be expanded by one person, as the statute allows for. There will be several changes in the powerful central government. The deadline for submissions to the selection committee is the end of next week, Friday 10 March. ELECTION COMMITTEE: LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik is leading the work to put together a new Ap leadership. Photo: William Jobling / news LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik, who heads the selection committee, had a clear message already on the day the selection committee had its first meeting: – The selection committee is keen to propose a central board that contributes to renewal, and which also represents the entire breadth in the party organization in a good way, she told news. – In this work, we want input from the party organization and will therefore send a letter to the county parties about this by March 10, explained Følsvik. Brenna’s big favorite news has been in contact with a number of sources in Ap’s central board, county leaders and members of the election committee about the way forward for the party. A picture emerges that Minister of Education Tonje Brenna from Akershus is the favorite to become the new deputy leader of the party. Brenna has expressed support from Agder Ap, AUF and Ap’s Sami parliament group. It is taken for granted that Brenna has the support of her home county of Akershus, not least as Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt announced at the weekend that she will not seek re-election to the central government. FAVORITE: Tonje Brenna can become the new deputy leader of Ap. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB But there is a challenger to the position. For Rogaland Ap announced last week that they want Hadia Tajik back as deputy leader. Tajik resigned as minister and deputy leader a year ago. Sources news has been in contact with say the timing is bad and that it is too early for a comeback for Tajik. But she also has powerful supporters in Ap, among others in Oslo Ap. Therefore, there are several who do not want to rule out Tajik returning to the Ap leadership, if only as a member of the central board. Many with several hats It is also clear that there will be several replacements in the central board, in addition to the fact that Huitfeldt will not stand for re-election. Now news can also say that Hilmar Høl from Vestland does not want re-election either. – I’ve had four good years on the central board, but now I think that others must be allowed to have a go, he says. It is a problem that the central government has become too top-heavy, stress a number of Ap sources independently of each other. Terje Lien Aasland, Marte Mjøs Persen, Ingvild Kjerkol, Bjørnar Skjæran, Anette Trettebergstuen, Jon Ivar Nygård and the aforementioned Huitfeldt all have in common that they are both ministers and sit on the central board. There they represent their counties. With such a situation, the role of the county teams as a corrective to the central party leadership becomes smaller. At the same time, several members of the central board have announced that they want re-election. This applies, among others, to the leader of the city council in Oslo, Raymond Johansen. THE MANAGEMENT: Today’s party leaders Kjersti Stenseng, Jonas Gahr Støre and Bjørnar Skjæran. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB
ttn-69
Kjersti Stenseng wants re-election as Ap-top – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
