As Minister of Research and Higher Education, Borten Moe (Sp) appointed Karl Erik Haug as chairman of the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy in December 2021. Borten Moe knew both Haug and his wife, Monica Rolfsen, from before: The couple and Borten Moe have, among other things, been guests in each other’s wedding, and the couple were guests at Borten Moe’s 40th birthday party in 2016, according to the Ministry of Education. They have also sat on the city council in Trondheim at the same time, but for different parties. Haug has held office in the Conservative Party, and Rolfsen in the Liberal Party. The ministry nevertheless assessed that Borten Moe was capable, and that it was not a problem that he appointed Haug to the position of chairman of the board of NUPI. But Borten Moe keeps the reason a secret. – In this case, where the minister was neither incompetent nor close to the limit of incompetence, he has seen no reason to disclose the ministry’s internal assessments, writes information manager Anders Lundell in the Ministry of Education in an e-mail to news. Ola Borten Moe does not want to be interviewed about the matter. Haug has called Borten Moe an “old acquaintance” to DN, which first mentioned the appointment, and confirms that he has, among other things, been at his home. – Internal to the body Borten Moe believes the assessment itself can be kept secret as so-called internal to the body, despite the fact that his own ministry recently published similar assessments by Minister of Education Tonje Brenna. – More publicity was shown in the cases of Tonje Brenna and Anette Trettebergstuen. In these two cases, the ministers had made clear mistakes in their competence assessments and the internal assessments were released as part of the work to clean up the mistakes that were made, writes Lundell to news. The secrecy is now causing several in the Control and Constitution Committee to raise their eyebrows. – Would have benefited from transparency Photo: William Jobling / news – This government, and Ola Borten Moe, would have benefited from publicity, says committee member Grunde Almeland from Venstre. – Being open and transparent about the assessments they have made is required especially after a round where it has been seen that several ministers in Støre’s government have not understood the rules of competence. Almeland points out that Education Minister Tonje Brenna has already shared her competence assessments with the committee, and points out that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was sent new questions last week, in which the committee asks for an overview of all competence assessments that have been prepared since the Støre government took office. – The government will have to answer for this in the control committee anyway. I am a bit of an outsider to the fact that you are not open and transparent about the assessments that have been made. Committee leader Peter Frølich believes the secrecy is new under Støre. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news – The practice under Erna Solberg was normally to provide access to competency assessments. Støre must answer about what practice his government will pursue, says Frølich. Frølich also points out that the Prime Minister has now also received several questions to which the committee wants answers. – The control committee has asked Støre to clarify that no more ministers have been disqualified when they have made appointments.
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Ola Borten Moe keeps competency assessment a secret – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
