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The bitter struggle for power is a recurring theme in the memoirs, which cover the period until Jagland resigned as leader of the Labor Party in 2002 and handed over the helm to the archrival.
Stoltenberg presented his version of events in the autobiography “My Story” in 2016. Jagland describes how memories flowed back when he read that book.
“I thought back to the bad times when malicious features showed up almost every day. I gradually gained less and less confidence in myself, ”he writes.
“In the end, I thought I was actually as desperate as it was written.”
In the memoirs, which have been titled “You Must Own It Yourself”, Jagland is in constant dialogue with Stoltenberg’s autobiography. Among other things, he notices how Stoltenberg writes that Jagland seemed withdrawn and suspicious when the conflict was happening.
“It was slightly described. I was sad and depressed, ”says Jagland.
Stoltenberg version
In the fall of 2001, Stoltenberg met with some “close confidants” at Jan-Erik Larsen’s apartment in Bislett in Oslo to discuss the situation. Also participating were Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, Marianne Aasen Agdestein and current party leader Jonas Gahr Støre.
“We made sure they didn’t see us together when we got to this apartment. We came from different directions and at different times. Several of us had familiar faces and we were afraid that someone would suspect that we were joining the faction. And that was exactly what we were looking for, “wrote Stoltenberg in his book.
Here Jens Stoltenberg was elected the new leader of the Labor Party in 2002. He is congratulated by former leader Thorbjørn Jagland. Photo: NTB
According to Stoltenberg, Larsen and Hanssen in particular were clear that he should run for party leader.
“I didn’t give them an adequate answer, but I knew they were working for my candidacy and that they were among the anonymous sources in the media advocating for a change in leadership. I didn’t stop them, ”he revealed.
“Like a bomb”
Jagland now writes that these phrases hit his head “like a bomb.”
He was at his home in Strasbourg when he read the book, in which Jagland was Secretary General of the Council of Europe, at the same time that Stoltenberg had assumed the post of Secretary General of NATO.
“Until tonight in Strasbourg, when I read what Jens had written, I thought I was exposed to a press campaign. I had been reluctant to believe what was being said, that people in inner circles almost daily tried to get the press to convey negative messages about me. Now I saw that it was true. The people were mentioned by Jens himself. “
Furthermore, Jagland describes how he collapsed at the Storting in 2002. After being admitted to Rikshospitalet, his wife Hanne Grotjord went to the Storting to look after his personal belongings.
“When one of Jens’s employees came out into the hallway and asked if there was anything Jens could do, Hanne had to break down.”
Desperate situation
Jagland announced his resignation as party leader when he returned to work in February of that year.
In retrospect, he has been President of the Storting, President of the Nobel Committee, and Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
Self-confidence returned.
It may not have been so desperate. It was a desperate situation, “concludes Jagland.
Stoltenberg, for his part, has nothing to add today.
Jens Stoltenberg recounted his version of his time as a Norwegian politician and prime minister in his autobiography. It has nothing to add beyond this, “says the press contact of the head of NATO, Sissel Kruse Larsen, in an SMS to NTB.
Jan-Erik Larsen writes that what Jagland writes is well-known material from Jens Stoltenberg’s 2016 book.
“Since then, it has been commented, debated and highlighted a great number of times, and from many angles. I have nothing more to add,” he writes in an SMS.
Støre also declined to comment on the information in the book.
Defense 36.9
Jagland believes his 1997 ultimatum helped mobilize voters.
In the book, he comes with a strong defense of the decision to say that he would resign if the Labor Party received less support than in 1993.
Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland speaks to the press after the government submitted his request to resign in 1997. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB
“I did not mention the number 36.9, but everyone knew that this was the basis of comparison. No one protested. During a visit to the school in Østfold a little later, I repeated the reasoning of VG, who in his post wrote that he would resign if support was less than 36.9. I did not protest; VG drew the logical conclusion. It should not be overlooked that this was seen as a cabinet issue for the people, “writes Jagland.
“I thought that if I said that it was not entirely in decimals, the mobilization effect would disappear,” he explains.
The Labor Party finished with 35 percent and Jagland resigned.
“You can endlessly speculate about what would have happened if he had not issued what was called an ultimatum. So I don’t think we would have received the mobilization that we received after all, ”writes Jagland.
He adds that the outcome of the government question would have been the same anyway.
