Surrounded by idiots – VG

It’s not easy being Siv Jensen during the day. The government doesn’t understand them and the voters don’t care. Most people are more concerned with Erna Solberg and Bent Høie’s Christmas rules. If they sacrifice a political thought, they seem to prefer scarecrows.

The party’s thanks were not very warm either. Eight people in the parliamentary group chose to vote against the budget they had worked so hard for. 14 billion more oil is not enough to stop dissatisfaction.

And there is no peace and quiet at home. Now Frp’s organizing committee, which has never been idle, is considering excluding Siv Jensen county team leader Oslo Frp. Geir Ugland Jacobsen has lived dangerously since he openly challenged Siv Jensen this summer. Several times she has questioned whether she is the right person to take the top spot, and time and again she has made statements that have irritated and provoked her. Recently, Sylvi Listhaug himself had to resign when he claimed that there were cheating in the presidential elections and that Trump had won. Then one understands the meaning of the term troublemaker.

Now strong party forces want to exclude him. The reason is unfair behavior towards the party leader and a series of conspiracies contrary to the party program. He is perceived as an instigator, and many believe that he should find a party that is more akin to the “patriotic beacon” he obviously wants, rather than destroying Frp.

The problem is that Ugland Jacobsen is not completely friendless. The irony of fate will be that his main weapon is the former party chairman, Carl I. Hagen. The man who himself excluded and suspended so-called rioters for a low shoe has been Ugland Jacobsen’s “lawyer” in talks with the party. The story would have been perfect if Hagen had been swept up in the suction of exclusion, but fate itself is not so ironic.

Nor is there a beautiful part of democracy that is developing now. A well-established political party should be able to fix it through ordinary party democracy. Ugland Jacobsen has been elected leader of the Oslo Frp, even though he doesn’t run any polished showcase.

The Oslo party has fared poorly in the elections and has struggled to cultivate strong profiles. There is no shortage of qualified or moderate FRP members in the capital, but they have the protection of their own county team like the plague. While Siv Jensen and his team have driven black government cars, it has actually been a home alone party for the rioters in Oslo Frp. It is a problematic situation that they do not want to take with them to the next electoral campaign.

Now comes the cleanup job, and it’s not necessarily easy. It’s not entirely certain that the riots will go away even if they manage to exclude the controversial county leader. There are many in the party who sympathize with his hard line on immigration policy. In the worst case, powerful forces can be unleashed if the party goes to the exclusion.

There is deep frustration that the FRP failed to reduce a single refugee quota in the budget negotiations. While pragmatists believe the other austerity measures in asylum policy are more valuable in the long run, critics are not impressed.

The party fell sharply when earlier this fall they demanded a quota number of refugees “as close to zero as possible.” The timing is not optimal either. So far it has not been a success to get the FRP out of the government. Opinion polls are miserable and there is a lot of frustration in the parliamentary group. If there is a clear strategy for the way forward, they hide it well.

And it’s by no means a given that Christmas peace descends on the party even if the worst troublemaker is cast out.