– She can lead. She engages and also has strategic qualities, says county leader Cecilie Knibe Kroglund in Agder Ap to news. She is supported by Mona Dia, who together with Knibe Kroglund represents Agder Ap in the Labor Party’s national board. – The management needs someone with a clear background in AUF. Tonje Brenna’s background as general secretary, as well as a burning commitment to those of us who sit at the bottom of the table and the school system, mean that she had a lot to contribute to the management, says Dia. After Hadia Tajik resigned as deputy leader, Ap’s leadership consisted of Jonas Gahr Støre, deputy leader Bjørnar Skjæran and party secretary Kjersti Stenseng. Several people are now advocating that the party leadership should be expanded by one more deputy leader, at the national meeting in May. FAVORITE: County leader Cecilie Knibe Kroglund in Agder Ap (left) wants knowledge minister Tonje Brenna as the party’s new deputy leader. Photo: Svein Sundsdal Wants changes news has approached members of the national board of Labor with questions about whether Labor should once again have a deputy chairman, and if so who this should be. One of those who openly advocates that Ap should again have two deputy leaders, is county leader Frode Fjeldsbø in Rogaland. – I believe that we should elect a deputy chairman in addition to Bjørnar Skjæran, he says and continues: – We have many good people who can take on such a position. I will leave it to party democracy to find the right one. The previous deputy, Hadia Tajik, represents Rogaland. And Fjeldsbø responds as follows to the question of whether it is too early for her to return as deputy leader already in the spring, should she herself wish to do so: – No, it is not too early in my opinion. Hadia Tajik has apologized for her mistakes and made amends. Fjeldsbø believes that Tajik should also be able to become a minister already during the winter or spring, if the prime minister has to or wants to make changes in the government: – What she accomplished as a minister in the short period she was in the government deserves respect. If there is an opportunity to get her back to the king’s table, and Hadia herself is ready for this, she should return to government. Hadia Tajik has not responded to news’s inquiries in the matter. POPULAR: Education Minister Tonje Brenna received a standing ovation when she recently visited Agder Ap. Photo: Svein Sundsdal Boasting of Brenna Formally, it is the election committee in the Labor Party that will propose a new leadership for the national meeting that will meet in May. This committee will not be appointed until the new year, but within the party the debate is already underway. news knows that many – at various levels in the party – want changes in the party leadership. Several are also advocating for replacements in the central government, where many are currently sitting who are also part of the government. CHANGES: County leader in Agder Ap, Cecilie Knibe Kroglund, wants Tonje Brenna into the Ap leadership. Photo: Kai Stokkeland – Hadia is fantastic. I hope she will be a central figure in our party for many years to come. I would like to see her as minister again, says Cecilie Knibe Kroglund in Agder Ap. Nevertheless, it is Tonje Brenna that she is now highlighting as the new deputy leader. – Tonje has a personality that is very inclusive. She is young, but at the same time has enormous experience, something very expensive. She knows what life is, what the party is and she understands our times. I think such a person will give the Labor Party a good future, says Knibe Kroglund. Ap’s mayoral candidate in Kristiansand, Kenneth Mørk, also points to Brenna. EXCITED: Ap’s mayoral candidate in Kristiansand wants Tonje Brenna as deputy leader. Photo: Svein Sundsdal – I strongly support the idea of Tonje as a candidate for deputy leader, if she wants it herself. And I hope so. Young, exceptionally talented and down-to-earth. One of our very best and best cards in the short and long term, he says to news. Party veteran and former state secretary at the Prime Minister’s office, Svein Fjellheim, has openly pointed to Brenna as Ap’s next leader – when Støre one day gives up. – Tonje Brenna is our best candidate to take over when the time comes, Fjellheim told Dagsavisen last week. In addition to Brenna and Tajik, Health and Care Minister Ingvild Kjerkol from Trøndelag and Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt from Akershus are also mentioned in the discussion about a possible new deputy leader in Ap. – Created excitement 35-year-old Tonje Brenna has a background in AUF, where she was general secretary from 2010 to 2012. She has previously also worked as youth secretary in LO in Akershus and Oslo and as a political adviser in AUF. According to Knibe Kroglund, Brenna caused great excitement when she visited the representative council in Agder Ap last Saturday. STATE COUNCIL: Tonje Brenna has been Minister of Knowledge since the change of government last autumn. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – I think I have many people in Agder Ap with me, says Knibe Kroglund about his own support for Brenna. During the visit to Agder Ap last weekend, Brenna heard that the county leader would prefer to see her become the new deputy leader of the party. – That is very nice. But my job is to be minister of knowledge and do what I can so that our schools and kindergartens can improve, Brenna herself told news after the meeting in Agder. – So eventually we will get an election committee and a national meeting, and then we will have to deal with it when we get there, she continued. – One of many talented Labor Party is struggling hard in the opinion polls at the moment. Last week, Støre made changes at the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK). Among other things, he brought in Brenna’s adviser in the Ministry of Education, Halvard Hølleland, to become the new state secretary. Facing news, Støre is now open to the fact that the Ap leadership can again count four when the national assembly adjourns on the first weekend in May next year. – We have statutes that allow for both one and two deputy chairmen. We had two, so I think there are good arguments for having two, because we are in government, we have a big responsibility and a lot to follow up in a party organisation, says Støre. – Now we are setting up an election committee in the new year, and then we have a national meeting in May. Then we will decide it there. NEW DEPUTY LEADER?: The Labor Party’s leader Jonas Gahr Støre believes there can be “good arguments for” having two deputy leaders. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – The county leader in Agder thinks Tonje Brenna is a good candidate, what do you say to that? – What is nice for me as party leader is that we have several good candidates. We have a new generation that has had the chance to try out many functions, says Støre and adds about Brenna: – She is one of many talented people. – It is also pointed out that Hadia Tajik has “made up for herself” and may be ready for a top position, do you agree with that assessment? – I do not comment on any individuals, other than to say that I am very confident that Ap can take those discussions. It is also a manager’s responsibility to ensure that people come forward who get to try themselves and are allowed to hold positions of responsibility and show that they can take responsibility. – What do you hope to get out of the substitutions you made at SMK last Friday? – Those who left my staff on Friday had done a very good job for me over several years. I am very fond of them, and I will miss them, they were important to me both as fellow human beings and political collaborators, he says and adds: – Now we have brought in two new ones who have healthy legs, so to speak the sports language. Then we will get the best out of it. We depend on having very active communication. Støre acknowledges that the opinion polls are demanding, but makes a promise to people in the party: – The government’s policy must get out to the people. We will travel out and be more present in the party organization and around the country.
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