– The waters are still rough, but the boat is better in the water. On Langkaia, a stone’s throw from the Oslo Opera House, Center Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum chooses a maritime image when explaining the political situation. A week and a half into 2024, the Finance Minister will meet with news to talk about the continuing strong headwinds in the measurements, but above all how he is going to reverse the trend. And about what he regrets after the change of government. More on that later. – 2024 will also be rough for many, but we have taken tough measures which mean that there will be brighter news during the year. We are on the right track, says Vedum. – But hoping that the economy will improve, is that really the strategy? – It is not something we hope for. It’s something we’ve worked for! Not least by keeping activity up and keeping people in work. It is now that we are beginning to see that the sum of the measures is yielding results, he claims. OFFENSIVE: The Minister of Finance believes in more positive than negative economic news this year. Photo: Jorunn Hatling / news Going to be tougher On Wednesday, the Vedum parliamentary group gathered for a seminar and social event at the Kullt pub in Oslo. The following day, government partner the Labor Party traveled to Fredrikstad to hold a similar internal meeting. And last week the government gathered for a strategy meeting at Losby estate in Lørenskog. Everywhere, the party leaders grappled with the same problem: How should the government go on the offensive? And what is the answer to voters who are now struggling with high interest rates and poorer advice? LOSBY GOODS: The government parties gathered here for an internal seminar last week. Photo: Mats Rønning / news news has spoken to several sources in the two parties in connection with the internal meetings. When asked what is needed to increase support, they answer strikingly alike: The governing parties must become tougher, clearer and more open to political opponents. Several believe they have been too cautious in the public debate and that their main rival the Conservative Party has gotten away too cheaply. The message to voters must be repeated that the turning point has arrived and that better times are ahead. The ministers must become better at showing how they work to make life better for most people. Turning point…or? But almost two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 14 interest rate increases and historically high price growth have given people far less to complain about. In other words, the opposite of the safe everyday economy Vedum wants. But when Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) met party colleagues in the old Ap bastion Fredrikstad yesterday, he repeated the message that the turning point is approaching, both in terms of price growth and interest rates. – We are approaching the point where we can achieve what we have worked for: that people will once again get a plus on their purchasing power, he says to news. SEMINAR: Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre at the party’s meeting in Fredrikstad yesterday. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Others – such as oil fund manager Nicolai Tangen – are not as sure. In an interview with news at NHO’s annual conference, he pointed out that 2024 will also be a demanding year internationally, with low growth in Europe and still high price growth. Oljefond CEO Nicolai Tangen is not sure that interest rates will drop significantly internationally in 2024. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news This will also affect the Norwegian economy – which Tangen, however, does not comment on. – Vedum, isn’t it risky to promise that people will have better finances in 2024? – We promise to take the measures we can to go in that direction. – But housing interest rates of around 6 per cent will result in many tens of thousands in increased expenses this year compared to last year? – There is no doubt that the interest costs are particularly felt now for many families with children. Because now the rent is at its highest level, and the salary settlement will not come until spring, says Vedum. BRIGHTER: Trygve Slagsvold Vedum believes brighter times are ahead. Photo: Jorunn Hatling / news – But there is a huge difference between hearing that “now there will be another interest rate increase” and “now prices are going up even more”. It also creates uncertainty, he continues. The SP leader adds that there are measures the government manages “100 per cent politically”, such as ensuring families with children thousands of extra pounds in cheaper daycare and after-school care. – The most important thing now is to secure people’s everyday finances, ensure national control in a particularly troubled time and develop the whole of Norway, he says. Refugee flow But also in 2024, bombs will fall on Ukraine. And the war means that it hits far into the Norwegian state budget. This year, Norway is spending more than NOK 40 billion on the war in Ukraine. – It is more than all our election promises, says Vedum. To date, 70,000 Ukrainians have come to Norway. And by the end of the year, the number may have passed 100,000, according to UDI director Frode Forfang. He emphasizes that the estimate is very uncertain, but adds that there is “every reason to believe” that many people want to stay in Norway. – There are some costs now, obviously, says Vedum, who also sees the flow of refugees as an opportunity. – At the same time, this has resulted in population growth in the districts. And there is potential in getting 100,000 people in such a labor pool, to follow up skills shortages and fill jobs, he says. Electricity regrets Nevertheless: The electricity price crisis that followed in the wake of the Ukraine war has cost and is costing the Center Party voters, people in Vedum’s party believe. And here it comes, the acknowledgment from Vedum in autumn 2021, when the price of electricity skyrocketed and support for a fresh Norwegian government fell at a corresponding pace. – What does self-criticism consist of? – That we didn’t just go there once. We should have just pulled it up to 90 percent at once. But the assessment from the leading power experts was that it would last for 2–3 months, says Vedum. SELF-CRITICISM: – What we did, we should have done right away, says Vedum. Photo: Jorunn Hatling / news And the scheme should have been hourly from the start, he says now. – What we did, we should have done right away. To create more peace. Because I think it has caused a lot of unease among people. The collapse The election this autumn was completely black for the Labor Party and the Center Party. The two governing parties lost a total of 81 mayors and now govern only one of the country’s 20 largest municipalities. And the development in the national opinion polls has not gone in a particularly positive direction. So far in January, Ap has an average of 19.3 percent and Sp 7 percent in the surveys, according to the website Pollofpolls. Sp-ers news has spoken to acknowledge that many who said they would vote Sp when the party was at 20 per cent two years ago, were in reality probably just on loan. – What do you have to say to those in Ap and Sp who are now preparing for election defeat in 2025? – I completely disagree with that. We were down to 5.2 per cent on average, now we are at 7. If there had been an election in February, we would not have known who would win, says Vedum. – It’s too early to give up, then…? – We will win! We will win the election in 2025! I have been party leader many times in many elections. And time after time we have been underestimated.
ttn-69
– We are on the right track – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
