“When it became known that I had married a woman from Tehran, the rumors spread in Drammen”. This is how chapter 9 begins in the freshly printed autobiography “Norway in my heart” written by Storting President Masud Gharahkhani (Ap). The biography takes the reader into geography. It depicts a five-year-old’s escape from a war-torn Tehran to the village of Skotselv northwest of Drammen. Gharahkhani tells of a happy childhood, encounters with neo-Nazis and his musical love for Tina Turner. Of course also about what it’s like to be Norway’s first parliamentary president with an immigrant background. Perhaps he could also become the country’s first mayor with precisely this background. “Eventually the family of three became a family of four. My sister Mona was born in 1989. Here we celebrate my big brother’s birthday.” Photo: Private Rumors and slander 11 years ago, Gharahkhani had climbed the political ladder: Local politician in Øvre Eiker. Youth secretary at LO in Vestfold. Leader of AUF. And then mayor candidate for Drammen. However, he believes that the accusations helped put an end to him being able to put the mayor’s chain around his neck. He writes the following: “In retrospect, it is not difficult to see that it was impossible for me to become mayor in 2011”. He believes a lot is due to the storm of rumors that arose in the run-up to the election. The September storm got more and more windy. – I heard that the marriage had been arranged and that the wife would have to wear full-covering garments. I was told that I was a reactionary Muslim – and that my wife was my cousin, says Gharahkhani. Here is the family on holiday in Kalkan, Turkey. Masud wants to shield his family from the public, but says he had to write about the person he loves and is married to. Photo: Privat In the beginning, the accusations bounced off him like water on a goose. – They were so beyond that I didn’t take them seriously at first. Until the rumors were legitimized by a political opponent. “Drammen could not have such a mayor and such a mayor’s wife, it was said,” he writes in the book. – Who said this? – Everything that was in social media. There were also some local politicians who contributed to that debate also being put on the agenda. He is referring to the then deputy mayor of Drammen, Freddy Hoffmann. Gharahkhani writes: “He went out in the local newspaper Drammens Tidende and said about my marriage that “everything indicates that this has been arranged in some way”. – Damn crap – I doubt that it’s the right wording, comments Hoffmann when he is presented with the book. – Didn’t you say this? – I don’t remember saying that. I had no reason to believe it once. I knew it wasn’t true – and I also wrote a post about it. This became a damning piece of shit that both Masud and I should have avoided. Former deputy mayor of Drammen, Freddy Hoffmann. Photo: Morten Andersen / news That the rumors swirled in the city at the time, Hoffmann remembers that well. – I was called by several media. The stupidity is that I confirmed that I had heard the rumours. – Are you in contact with Masud today? – I tried to contact him several times in 2011 on Messenger. Zero response. I feel with Masud, that you are exposed to rumours. Unfortunately, this is how it is when you are profiled, concludes Hoffmann. Loves Norway In the end, the rumors became “so unpleasant” that the mayoral candidate went public and defended himself. – In the election campaign, I therefore had to go out and talk about my private life. It was quite strange. Gharahkhani had to deny that his wife and he were not related. That the marriage was not arranged. That they were not reactionary Muslims. “As a five-year-old, Masud fled with his family from war in Iran to an asylum center in Norway. Today he is the second highest ranked after the King,” writes Aschehoug. Photo: Tina Brock / news – There was, after all, a reason why my family fled to Norway in those days. – Where did you get married? – We got married in Istanbul. Just the two of us. She was in Iran. Me in Norway. It was the place where we could meet, get married and start new lives. The book is about the opportunities I have been given. From being born in extremism and war, to being president of the Storting today in one of the leading democracies. The book is an act of gratitude and I love Norway. The book is on the shelves from 14 October.
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Storting President Masud Gharahkhani was accused of having married his cousin – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
