Frp may support Conservative Government if Listhaug is fired
Central members of the Progress Party (Frp) hint that they withdraw from Government and then support a pure Cabinet from the Conservatives (Høyre) if Listhaug has to resign. This is to prevent Jonas Gahr Støre from becoming Prime Minister.
Although Frp for many years has stated that they do not want to support a Government they are not a part of, several key Frp sources are opening up for a change in the view on this, according to NRK.
The reason is that they would rather support a Conservative Government if the alternative is a Labour led Cabinet with Jonas Gahr Støre as the Prime Minister. Several believe that if Frp still refuses to support any Government they are not a part of, then the Christian Democrats (KrF) will be forced to help Støre to become Prime Minister.
NTB also confirms that this view is shared by several in the Progress Party.
– The only thing that is 100% certain is that Frp can not be a support party for a Government involving the Conservatives – Liberals and Krf, a Government source tells NRK.
A pure Conservative Government will need support from KrF, the Liberals (Venstre) and Frp in the Parliament.
– If we arrive at such a situation, it will be a tough and difficult round internally given what we have stated before and what has happened recently. But I also believe most of us also prefer Erna and the Conservatives before Støre as Prime Minister if it comes to that, says a Parliamentary source.
Progress Party leader, Siv Jensen, does not want to comment on the rumours
Sanner before crisis meeting: A serious situation
Deputy leader of the Conservatives, Jan Tore Sanner, denotes the situation as serious and hopes KrF will not push Norway into a Government crisis.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg (Conservatives) convened the leaders, deputies and parliamentary leaders from the three Government parties, the Progress Party and the Liberals to a crisis meeting at the Prime Minister’s apartment Monday evening.
The meeting was convened after the Country Council of KrF at an extraordinary meeting in the Parliament concluded that they will support the vote of mistrust against Minister of Justice, Sylvi Listhaug. Thereby, it is a majority in the Parliament who has lost trust to the Minister of Justice.
– It is a serious situation when KrF has also announced that they support the vote of no confidence put forward by Red, and after Erna Solberg and Sylvi Listhaug have provided unreserved apologyiesfor the unacceptable Facebook message, says Sanner on his way to the Prime Minister’s residence.
He hopes KrF will not help to bring Prime Minister Erna Solberg and the blue-green Government down, that is, the party chooses to abstain during the vote if the Prime Minister responds by asking for a cabinet question.
On the possible solution by moving Listhaug to another ministry, that several leading opposition politicians have suggested, Høyres deputy says:
– What we hear from opposition parties is that they have mistrust in Sylvi Listhaug as Minister of Justice but can have trust in her in another position. That’s what is special in this case. It is a matter of distribution of power if the opposition is to determine the distribution of Governmental posts, says Sanner.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today