On Thursday evening, KrF leader Olaug Bollestad resigned as leader of the party. However, deputy leader and acting leader of KrF, Dag-Inge Ulstein, is adamant that he will not stand for re-election to the Storting. He also does not want to be party leader in the long term. – That decision still stands, says Ulstein to news. KrF must reassemble the party leadership. The KrF leadership has not responded to whether it is appropriate to have a national meeting already this autumn so that the party can choose a new party leadership before they enter the important election year 2025. The party has been consistently below the threshold of 4 percent in opinion polls in recent years , and has ambitions to get more representatives into the Storting again, as they had before the election in 2021. KrF currently has three Storting representatives. Only Bollestad is the only one of three Storting representatives who has announced that she will seek re-election to the Storting. But she did not respond yesterday to whether she still wants to run for re-election. Neither deputy leader Dag-Inge Ulstein nor former party leader Kjell Ingolf Ropstad will seek re-election. Now there is tension as to whether deputy leader Ida Lindtveit Røse will make herself available as the new party leader. On Thursday evening, she would not answer whether it is applicable. Long meeting The party held a crisis meeting lasting over seven hours on Thursday, which ended with Olaug Bollestad announcing the end of his leadership role. Ulstein emphasizes that they have great respect for the election. On Thursday evening, Bollestad announced that she has chosen to resign as leader of KrF Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB – I think I use the words that Olaug said yesterday, this was her decision. The party has been in a very demanding situation. No one at yesterday’s meeting wanted the party to end up in that situation. Olaug made the decision yesterday that she wanted to resign, and we respect that, says Ulstein. He says that the central board needed the long meeting to talk through the matter. – A long meeting does not mean anything other than just that. There was a very respectful tone during the meeting, says Ulstein. – Have experienced that we are a unified party Dag-Inge Ulstein is adamant that he will not stand for re-election. Photo: news Ulstein insists that the KrF is a unified party. – We all wish we weren’t where we were today, and I respect what Olaug has said. On Olaug’s watch, the team has come together. I think many people in the party organization and the grassroots have experienced that we are a united party. Olaug has raised many profiles around the country. Even if it feels dramatic now, it is a united party. Political editor in Fædrelandsvennen, Vidar Udjus believes that KrF is in total limbo. – They must fill central leadership positions again, both leader, first and second deputy leader. The Storting group will be completely erased, says political editor in Fædrelandsvennen, Vidar Udjus. Vidar Udjus, political editor Fædrelandsvennen Photo: Per-Kåre Sandbakk / news – I assume that Bollestad will withdraw there as well, We will get a new Christian People’s Party, says Udjus. The county leader in Rogaland has confidence in Bollestad – I think there have been demanding days. There was an expectation that there would have to be a clarification. We need to know where the road goes next, and we got that yesterday, says Siri Bloch Lindtveit, county leader of KrF Rogaland. She says that it has been tough with the media storm that has been in recent weeks. – It has actually been the most demanding. We have followed the case through the media. There have been a lot of leaks and we haven’t had the peace of mind to have a process. Siri Bloch Lindtveit, county manager of KrF Rogaland. Photo: Joan Rege / NMS Gjenbruk Yesterday evening the local team leaders in Rogaland gathered on a planned course. – It was a tough bunch. But I also understand that there is a will and opportunities to find a way forward. We just have to get some time to find our feet, to find our balance again and find our footing. Then I know that there is a group in Rogaland that is ready. – What do you think about Olaug Bollestad’s resignation? – Olaug, then, she is a wonderful lady. She has made an insane effort as party leader. I understand that she chooses to retire. But she is still on the team. The county leader says that the nomination process leading up to the next general election is in full swing, but will not say anything about Bollestad’s role here for the time being. – There are many good people in KrF, and I have confidence that with a good process in the right organs in the party we will find a good way forward for the party, says Morten Helland, Bømlo mayor and county leader of Vestland KrF. The story of Bollestad is not over At the same time, the story of the old KrF is not over, according to Udjus. – no one will say why Bollestad chose, in imitation, to withdraw, and when Ulstein says that they are a united team, it is obvious that it is not correct in any case. So we haven’t seen the last of what really happened in the last few days and hours. Editor in Dagen, Vebjørn Selbekk believes that what has happened in the party bears the stamp of a brutal power struggle. Editor in Dagen, Vebjørn Selbekk Photo: news – Someone has talked together, and is bypassing democracy. The party leader elected by the national meeting is being tried to be deposed, and it is not the will of the members and the elected representatives that is carried out, but a group in Oslo who decided that here pressure must be put on Bollestad to resign. A pressure she couldn’t resist. Selbekk says he thinks Olaug Bollestad made the decision to preserve dignity, she wanted to have control over this herself. – But that’s not the whole story, because there is a pre-history here with a lot of pressure put on her, and in the end a warning was used here to tip her over the match. Selbekk does not believe that we will hear more about the warning. Political scientist Svein Tuastad is skeptical of the statement that this is Bollestad’s own choice. – It’s really just nonsense. There are many indications that she might want to continue, but when she can say that it is her own choice for the history books, it looks like she is the one who has steered this process. But everyone who has followed what has happened in KrF in recent weeks knows that it has not been like that. Tuastad says that the situation in recent weeks has been a major crisis. – She created weeks that have been completely miserable for KrF, because of an outcome that was completely obvious. It is among the biggest type of crisis the party can have when there is bad blood in the leadership. You can’t do anything political when it comes to promoting issues. Everything is paralyzed by conflict, and there is frustration among the employees. Published 23.08.2024, at 08.35 Updated 23.08.2024, at 10.00
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Will not say why the KrF leader is resigning – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
