Ten Progress Party promises not delivered on

Minster of Finance Siv Jensen (Progress Party leader)Press photo: @Frp

Ten Progress Party promises Siv and Sylvi hope you’ve forgotten about

The Progress Party (Frp) management boasts of everything they have achieved in Government. The list of failures and broken promises they do not speak as loudly about. Ten broken Progress Party promises assembled by Dagbladet are listed below.

 

FRP management boasted unencumbered of the party’s many victories in the government during the weekend’s National Congress.

Among other things, it was emphasized that the tax level is lower, the inheritance tax now is a thing of the past and that more police officers are employed to keep our streets safe.

– This is a party that keeps its promises! Party leader Siv Jensen thundered in her closing speech at the Sunday session.

The Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet) Management does not speak as much about the issues where the party has still not delivered on their promises, or has been defeated, and the list is long.

Some of The Progress Party’s promises, such as the desire for a national begging ban, were broken already when the Government platform was being made, while some were negotiated away later in the Government period.

Others, such as the deportation of the so-called Mullah Krekar, have not been possible to carry out or have not been done.

Below are ten of the most imminent defeats.

1. Fuel taxes should be reduced

Party leader Siv Jensen called “sky-high gasoline taxes” an “absolutely terrible” situation back in 2010, but with The Progress Party in Government taxes on gasoline has increased, even though oil prices as we know has been reduced significantly since the 2013 election. The Progress Party emphasizes to Dagbladet that although gasoline taxes are increased, the party has reduced the annual fee on car with NOK 315 and increased deductions on commuting.

2. Pilot project with federally funded care for the elderly

The Progress Party stated in its party program that there should be state-funded care in the current period. Instead they got a pilot project with 20 municipalities. The municipalities since fled to a large degree of fear that they would lose money on the project. Now only six municipalities in Norway are participating in the project.

The case was one of The Progress Party-veteran Carl I. Hagen’s major passionate causes – and the party veteran is among those who have called the trial project a failure. The Progress Party management tells Dagbladet that they are still view the test scheme as a success.

3. The Police Directorate should be discontinued

The Progress Party promised to go to war on bureaucracy. Instead, bureaucracy has continued to grow under this Government.

In 2012, The Progress Party leader Siv Jensen said that the Police Directorate (POD) had to be closed down. Prior to the elections in 2013, Deputy Per Sandberg promised the same if Frp was to become part of the Government.

Instead, the directorate more than doubled its annual operating budget from 125 million in 2012 to 301 million this year. During the national congress during the weekend, they decided to keep the directorate, which the management four years ago wished to get rid of.

4. Toll roads should be removed

In advance of the 2013 election Bård Hoksrud promised that Norway should be toll-free if The Progress Party won the election. The Party came into power, but the toll consists. And not only that: No Transport Minister has brought in so much in tolls as The Progress Party’s Ketil Solvik-Olsen. The state garnishes NOK 24.4 million in tolls every single day.

The Progress Party has promised that the toll rates in the districts will be reduced by ten percent in 2017.

5. The NRK license was to be abolished

The Progress Party has for years wanted to abolish NRK license, but in Government the party has just won approval to freeze it. Due to general price growth, NRK has, of course, had less money to spend as long as The Party has been in Government, but the channel still exceeds 5 billion in license fees every year in times when many other media houses have to make substantial cuts.

6. The document fee should be removed

– The document fee does not match with the state’s costs on land registration work, and The Progress Party therefore wishes to remove the entire document fee. The document fee also contributes to making housing more expensive, which among other things affects first-time buyers, MP Christian Tybring-Gjedde, told DinSide in 2013.

In the party program for the current period The Progress Party advocated for removing it. it is, However, unchanged at 2.5 per cent of the sales value of the home, and Government revenue from the document fee has increased in line with house price growth in Norway in recent years.

7. The property tax should be removed

The Progress Party entered its party program for the current period in order to completely abolish property tax. Nonetheless, property tax in municipalities increased across the country while Frp has been in power. In cities like Oslo, the increase in property tax has come after the red-green parties gained political majority in the elections in 2015, The Progress Party points out to Dagbladet.

8. The Sámi Parliament should be removed

Several Frp representatives in Parliament has for a number of years loudly wanted to abolish the Sami Parliament, or at least let the Sami people themselves finance the council. Currently, there has been no significant change in the financing of the Sami Parliament, which is alive and well even though The Progress Party is in Government.

9. The equity requirement for housing will be removed

The equity requirement for housing will be removed altogether if The Progress Party came into Government, promised the party. Instead, the equity requirement for secondary residences has increased to 40 percent in the capital this year. In the rest of the country, the requirement for 15 per cent equity is continued, also for secondary housing, which is the same as before the change of Government. As the housing price increases, the capital requirement for the borrower follows suit.

10. Taxes on alcohol to be reduced

Since The Progress Party’s founding, the party has fought for lower taxes – also on alcohol. Nevertheless, alcohol taxes have increased every year since they came to Government. The wine and liquor suppliers’ association (VBF) estimates that the fees alone will amount to NOK 60 for a bottle of wine this year.

 

© Dagbladet / Norway Today