The Labor Party is in dire straits. Over time, the party has had low support in the polls. According to news’s own measurements, they have been below 20 per cent in recent months. In Bodø, the party has its own crisis. Ap politician and university lecturer Thor Arne Angelsen has resigned from the party. The reason is the reactions he received after he went against his own party and presented his own proposal in the city council this summer. Politicians in the Conservative Party and FRP were then allegedly warned against voting on the proposal because Angelsen was alleged to be mentally ill, which Angelsen denies. When Angelsen notified Ap central about this, the notifications were dropped. In recent days, Avisa Nordland and several other media have covered the case. Thor Arne Angelsen warned against his own party, but the warning was dropped. Photo: Sofie Olaisen / news Went against own party The case started in Bodø city council on 16 June earlier this year. There, school politician Thor Arne Angelsen decided to defy his own party. The reason was that he wanted to secure more money for the schools in Bodø. He suggested reducing the municipal director’s proposal for cuts in the bodø school from NOK 17 to NOK 11 million: Labor politician and university lecturer Thor Arne Angelsen has resigned from the party after party colleagues allegedly used his mental health as an argument in a political case. VIDEO: BODØ MUNICIPALITY Together with his vote, the opposition would ensure a majority in the case. But then the noise also started. A row involving politicians in several parties. And alleged accusations that Angelsen could not be taken seriously due to his mental health. OCCUPIED BY CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE: “Thor Arne will work hard to ensure that children and young people have access to premises, instructors and events that can give them both joy and wonder in everyday life”, it was stated in the presentation of Thor Arne Angelsen on Ap’s website . The page has now been deleted. Photo: Skjermdump / Arbeiderpartiet.no Høyre and Frp support Angelsen’s accusation On this day in June, Tommy Wisth and his party colleagues sat in the Progress Party and discussed the matters that were to be brought before the city council. He says that group leader Anne Mari Haugen in the Labor Party suddenly knocked on the door of the meeting room. She is said to have asked Wisth to join her in her office. – She asked me not to vote on Angelsen’s proposal, says Wisth. According to Wisth, Haugen is said to have told him that Angelsen suffered from a serious mental illness. – Haugen said we had to think about the fact that this case could be in the newspaper, and that we had to think about his family, he continues. Tommy Wisth is group leader for the Frp in Bodø. Photo: Synnøve Sundby Fallmyr / news Despite being asked to keep the information to himself by Haugen, Wisth shared this with the town council group of the FRP. – The others were shocked, says Wisth. After discussing the matter internally, the party group agreed to nevertheless vote for Angelsen’s proposal. – Because it was in line with our policy. news has sent a number of questions to Anne Mari Haugen in the Labor Party about the course of events that day, without these having been answered. – I have given my answers to the Labor Party in connection with the notice. After thorough consideration, the case has been concluded, and I therefore see the case as closed. Beyond that, I have no comment, she writes in an e-mail to news. Claims the mayor confirmed the claim Around the same time, group leader Joakim Sennesvik in the Conservative Party should have received a visit. Now it was the Center Party’s group leader, Ingrid Pauline Lien, who wanted to have a chat, says Sennesvik. – Lien said that a crisis in position had arisen because Angelsen considered putting forward a proposal that did not have support in the group, says Sennesvik. – We were asked not to take the proposal seriously on the basis that he was mentally ill. news has also sent questions to Ingrid Pauline Lien in the Center Party about the course of events, but these have not been answered. Joakim Sennesvik is group leader for the Conservative Party in Bodø. Photo: Beth Mørch Pettersen / news Sennesvik says that it was a difficult situation for him to handle, since he had to explain to his city council group why they should possibly not vote on the proposal. Sennesvik says that he went to mayor Ida Pinnerød (Ap) and explained that this was a difficult situation to deal with. – Then I got the same explanation from her. It was allegedly for the sake of him and his family. Read the response from mayor Ida Pinnerød further down in the matter. Rejects the claims about mental health The Conservative Party also ended up voting for Angelsen’s proposal. Sennesvik says that it was because the proposal was completely in line with their policy. Together with Redt’s and Venstre’s votes, Angelsen’s proposal received a majority. The result? Angelsen now sits on the back bench in the city council chamber, after he resigned from the Labor Party in October. – When I tell people about everything that happens, no one believes me. I wouldn’t have done that either, if I hadn’t just experienced it myself, says Angelsen to news. Thor Arne Angelsen, pictured here in news’s radio studio when he was a guest through his role as university lecturer at Nord University. Photo: Sigurd Steinum / news He says that he was prepared to be “politically dead” after going against his own party in the city council. – But I was not at all prepared for the situation after that. Simply suggesting that mental illness makes you unfit to contribute to political work is shameful. That someone would dare to lie about someone else’s mental health in order to win a political case is incomprehensible and unacceptable. Notified the parties centrally At the end of October, Angelsen resigned from the Labor Party. At the same time, he sent two notices on several pages to the Labor Party and the Center Party central respectively. The notices are aimed at the two group leaders Haugen (Ap) and Lien (Sp) on the basis of what should have happened in the group meetings. In addition, notices have been issued against mayor Pinnerød (Ap) and deputy mayor Ola Smeplass (Sp), who Angelsen believes must have been aware of the events, without having intervened to stop it. Deputy mayor Ola Smeplass denies to news that he knew that the Conservative group leader had been approached by Ingrid Pauline Lien. – I should have given notice much earlier. For various reasons I didn’t do that, says Angelsen to news. Section 1 of the Labor Party’s guidelines against harassment states: “The Labor Party has zero tolerance for all forms of harassment…”. After 14 days of processing, the notification committee in both the Labor Party and the Center Party concluded that there had been no breach of the guidelines for harassment. In the conclusion, assistant party secretary Mari Aaby West in the Labor Party writes that they have “obtained information about the Center Party’s talks from the group leaders in H and Frp, after approval from them”. They claim they were not contacted Similar wording can be found in the conclusion from the Center Party, signed by secretary general Knut M. Olsen. “In addition, we have had talks with group leaders in the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party,” the email states. The two group leaders both confirm having been called by Secretary General Olsen in the Center Party. Knut M. Olsen is general secretary of the Center Party. Photo: news – I told my version of the case. He then asked if he could pass it on to the Labor Party. But I never heard anything directly from the Labor Party, says Sennesvik (H). He describes the conclusion that no ethical guidelines had been breached as surprising. – That is why I have chosen to stand up to support Thor Arne. This behavior does not belong anywhere, says Sennesvik. Wisth (Frp) also says that he was never contacted by the Labor Party. – They closed the case without talking to me or Sennesvik. When they say it has been a thorough and good process, and I know they haven’t contacted me, I think it’s amazing. Will not comment on the case news has asked mayor Ida Pinnerød (Ap) a number of questions related to the course of events and the allegations that are said to have been made against Angelsen. Pinnerød only answers the following: – The Labor Party has concluded that I have not broken the party’s guidelines against harassment, and I already replied to Avisa Nordland that I do not recognize myself in the accusations and characteristics that have come my way in this matter. I have nothing more to add. news has also directed a number of questions to the assistant party leader in the Labor Party, Mari Aaby West, who signed the conclusion on the notice from Angelsen. Among other things, whether they do not believe in Angelsen, or whether they believe that what has come to light does not violate the party’s guidelines. In addition, she has been asked why the party has not been in contact with Sennesvik and Wisth. Ole Martin Buene is head of communications in the Labor Party. Photo: Tine SA Communications Manager Ole Martin Buene responds on behalf of Aaby West: – We cannot comment on the content or the circumstances surrounding specific alerts. – I can say, on a general basis, that all notification cases in the Labor Party are handled thoroughly and according to clear guidelines. This means, among other things, that external legal expertise is involved in the process, that the whistleblower and the whistleblower are thoroughly heard, and that documentation and/or statements are collected from other parties involved. On Saturday, Nettavisen wrote about yet another warning from the Labor Party’s party office against the mayor of Bodø. Here Pinnerød’s former deputy mayor, Synne Bjørbæk in Rødt, claims that Ida Pinnerød responded to political disagreements between the two back in 2016 and 2018 by telling others in Bodø politics that Bjørbæk was mentally ill:
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Trouble in the Labor Party – whistleblower case against mayor Ida Pinnerød in Bodø – news Nordland
