Loga sámegillii. Several people who are not Sami have illegally appeared in the Sami Parliament’s voter list and on the election lists of the FRP. This is shown by surveys carried out by news in the two southernmost constituencies in Norway. Control by the Sámi Parliament is almost non-existent – because it is difficult to check whether people have actually followed the criteria for registering. But now the Sámi Parliament wants to scrutinize the Sámi Parliament’s number of electors. The aim is to investigate whether people actually meet the criteria to be included in this number of electors. Silje Karine Muotka is president of the Sami Parliament from the Norwegian Sami National Confederation (NSR). Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news – We also want to get an idea of the size and scope of whether there are actually people who break the Sami Act, says Sami parliament president Silje Karine Muotka (NSR). She refers to people who register and get the right to vote, even if they later admit that they are not Sami. – The underlying question here is whether it is the Sami voice that is heard in Norway, when there are people who register without perceiving themselves as Sami. In order to join the Sámi Parliament’s electoral roll, you must answer yes to two criteria. One is that you perceive yourself as Sami. The second is that you are the child of someone listed in the census, or that you yourself or at least one of your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents spoke Sami at home. Will let everyone in Finnmark vote Bengt Rune Strifeldt is a parliamentary representative for the Progress Party from Finnmark. He says he has not been aware that party members have signed up for the electoral roll without being Sami. – It is unfortunate if there are people who are registered without meeting the criteria. A certain control must still be expected from the Sámi Parliament itself, says Strifeldt. Bengt Rune Strifeldt (Frp) says he thinks the Sami Parliament has become an undemocratic body. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news He himself registered with the Sami Parliament’s electoral roll in 2013, but says that he has struggled to find his Sami identity. – It is difficult to have criteria that are based on feelings. If you are finnmarking, you are street mix. So finding that identity, how to feel like Sami, I struggled with that. But as I am from Finnmarking, I am a good mix, says Strifeldt, referring to the fact that he is both Norwegian, Swedish and Sami. – I think everyone in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark should be able to vote in the Sámi parliamentary elections, says Strifeldt. He points out that everyone in the north is affected by the policies that are carried out by the Sámi Parliament. Strifeldt says he thinks the Sámi Parliament has become an undemocratic body, which discriminates against people other than those involved in reindeer herding. – The Sámi Parliament was established because of injustice from earlier times. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. You don’t right a wrong by committing a new wrong, says Strifeldt. Trouble for Sami democracy? Historian and senior researcher at OsloMet, Mikkel Berg-Nordlie, has for many years researched the Sami Parliament and the number of electors. People who cheat their way to the right to vote can, if there are enough of them, cause problems for Sami democracy, he says. – The Sámi Parliament is supposed to express the will of the Sámi people. When you have people in the electorate who are not Sami, who cast their vote, and thus help to influence what the Sami Parliament will say – then it shakes the entire foundation of the Sami system. – In the final consequence, however, we may end up with a Sami Parliament that expresses something other than the will of the Sami people, says Mikkel Berg-Nordlie. Photo: Gyda Katrine Hesla / news He points out that there are many ways to express that you disagree with the policy pursued in the Sámi Parliament. – You have to respect that the system exists. Even if you can sometimes disagree with what comes out of the Sámi Parliament, the solution is not to go in and try to change it from the inside when you don’t really belong there. – Do you think it is important that members know a Sami identity? – Yes, that is, in a way, the whole point. The Sámi Parliament’s electorate is there for people who are Sámi. If you don’t see yourself as Sami, then you’re not Sami, right? – Madness to investigate Terje Wikstrøm (Ap) is mayor of Hammerfest municipality. He joined the Sámi Parliament’s electoral roll because he wants to help influence issues he is passionate about. He reacts strongly to the fact that the Sámi Parliament will now scrutinize the number of electors. – I mean this illustrates – let me say it so strongly: The madness in it. Here you are interviewed by news related to why politicians have a larger proportion of registered voters than the general population. And then doubts are sown whether one belongs in the population or not. That illustrates my point. We can’t have it like that! Wikstrøm points out that the purpose of the Sámi Parliament was to ensure and facilitate the Sámi people’s ability to develop their language and social life. He asks that he be allowed to have other views on how exactly this task should be carried out – without being questioned as to whether he is “Sami enough”. – Now it is suddenly problematic that more people register? I soon don’t understand what people are doing up in Karasjok, says Wikstrøm. The first election to the Sámi Parliament was held in 1989. Photo: Benjamin Fredriksen / news Anonymous surveys Silje Karine Muotka replies that the Sámi Parliament’s surveys of the number of voters are not about Wikstrøm, but about those who now say they have registered without being Sámi. – Here we need to get an idea of how big a challenge there is with this situation with Frp politicians who say they do not see themselves as Sami. That’s more the kind of thing I’m worried about. It is also my duty to deal with difficult issues – and then I have to accept that Terje Wickstrøm does not understand anything about what we are doing in Karasjok. It is unclear whether the Sámi Parliament will do anything concrete with regard to the illegal registrations that news has uncovered. Plenary leader in the Sámi Parliament, Tom Sottinen, who formally manages the Sámi Parliament’s electorate, says that the Sámi Parliament is looking into the matter. Sami Parliament President Muotka says that the Sami Parliament Council will consider whether they want to look into the matter when they meet on Tuesday. But there is no proposal put forward on the agenda regarding this for the time being. This is how the Sámi Parliament will scrutinize the number of electors It has been over 30 years since the Sámi Parliament was established. The Sámi Parliament’s electorate has grown since its establishment. The Sámi Parliament’s plenary meeting asks the Sámi Parliament to investigate why some have chosen to withdraw from the Sámi Parliament’s electoral roll. Furthermore, an anonymous survey is carried out among those entitled to vote whether they meet both the objective and subjective criteria. The proposal was adopted by the Sámi Parliament’s plenum, by the Norwegian Sámi National Association (NSR), by representative Beaska Niillas, the Center Party, Flyttsamelista, Arbeiderparti.
ttn-69
