Control Committee asks PM to lament

object security Control Committee FenceFence. The Control Committee with strong criticism of the Government for lack of object security

The Control Committee asks the PM to apologise

Prime Minister Erna Solberg (Conservatives) should apologise for that the Government has failed the job of securing important buildings and infrastructure, the chairman of the Norwegian Parliament’s Control Committee believes.

 

– I believe she ought to apologise for not doing that, Dag Terje Andersen (Labour) tells NTB.

He does not, however, have too high expectations when the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) treats the OAG’s latest report on Wednesday, which reveals failures in the work on object protection.

– I hope that the Prime Minister is humble about the most serious issue, that the job is not done, and that it is still a long time for the work to be finished to ensure security in the Norwegian society. I also hope she is humble because they have provided the Parliament with incorrect and inadequate information, the head of the Control and Constitution Committee says to NTB.

Andersen believes that the Prime Minister has had many occasions to show that she is humble and is therefore unsure of what he can expect now.

– We had a matter up for treatment last year. Then we felt that the Government rose- painted reality, he points out.

The so-called “Red-Green” opposition has made it clear that they mistrust the Government, but the Christian Democrats (KrF), who is negotiating to enter the Solberg Government, will not secure a majority for the proposal of no confidence. The party instead supports a strong criticism of the Government (“daddelvedtak”).

Misconstrued

The Solberg Government was given strong criticism by the Norwegian Parliament despite that the Prime Minister maintains that they have «misconstrued» the situation.

Solberg was aware that the threat of distrust would not get a majority when she went to the Parliament’s speaker’s corner on Wednesday. Therefore, the apology to the opposition, after the OAG’s devastating criticism of the Government’s work against terrorism, was not to be.

At the same time, she suggests that the Members of Parliament have slept during class. Information has come to the Parliament in the form of budget items, the Norwegian Prime Minister states. In short, the Parliament has «misconstrued» the information.

– We have learnt a new political word from the Prime Minister and an expression of an arrogant attitude towards the Parliament, Labour leader Jonas Gahr Støre comments.

– A parliamentary innovation and a display of power arrogance, Socialist Leader Audun Lysbakken muses.

Split responsibility

Solberg believes that others than the current Government must acknowledge part-responsibility.

– We must ask ourselves why we are in this situation. Yes, because we obviously set a deadline based on inadequate information. This costs a lot more and is far more demanding than what we foresaw when we issued the regulation. I believe that the opposition should have taken into account how complex this case is and that there are several involved, she concludes.

Facts about ”daddelvedtak”

  • Also known as a “daddelvotum” or resolution of criticism. Is a tool the Norwegian Parliament has to direct strong criticism of a Cabinet Member or the whole Government. The purpose of such a decision is to draw attention to what you believe to be behaviour worthy of criticism.
  • The word “daddel” in this context comes from Platt Deutch (Low German), via Danish, meaning bad or missing.
  • Such a decision does not necessarily have any consequences for the Cabinet Minister and is thus much less serious than a proposal for a vote of no confidence.
  • Is part of Norwegian political tradition, but is not formalised in any regulations.
  • Was used before 1884 as the only way to make Cabinet Ministers liable without having to raise a governance lawsuit against them. The tradition of the “daddelvedtak” came back after World War II, now as a milder alternative to a vote of no confidence.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today