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Sp’s strong progress does not worry Dag Terje Andersen. He believes that a common front against the Conservatives is more important than the Labor Party that sets the distance to Sp.
Dag Terje Andersen (Labor Party) heads the Storting control committee and is in his last year as a Storting representative. He believes that the decline of Ap is created more in Norway than as part of a European trend. Photography: Tomm W. Christiansen
Work is at the lowest level in the polls. The Conservatives have been bigger than the Labor Party in polls since March. Cascades of Sp. In one country after another is the social democracy with a broken back.
– When commentators and others point out that our decline is part of a European trend, it is more of an explanation than an analysis. It’s getting too easy. A European trend is no excuse for our low support, says Dag Terje Andersen.
The former minister, party secretary and chairman of the Storting has refused to be re-elected to the Labor Party in Vestfold. When the moose hunt begins next year, the former forestry worker will retire.
He has turned 63 years old. Andersen is the only one in many years who has moved from a job in high-level politics to the jungle. This happened when he resigned from the Storting in 2001.
Historically, the Labor Party in Norway and sister parties in the Nordic countries have had more support than the Social Democrats on the continent.
– There’s no reason we can’t do it again, he says before adding another tobacco.
Sharpen the profile towards Sp
– Should the Labor Party mark a clearer distance with some of Sp’s solutions?
– In some questions, there is not so much distance between us and SP that there is something to highlight. On matters that are important to the districts, we have little trouble finding each other. This applies, for example, to district policy, forestry and agriculture, and fisheries policy. We agree that social differences are increasing. We don’t want any of that. I do not consider Sp as an opponent, but as a competitor.
– What does that mean?
– We both want better policy for districts and we believe that conservatives pursue a policy hostile to the district. It is better to focus our attention on what separates us from the conservatives. Those of us who want to form a government together should not bother each other. This does not exclude that we mark the disagreements where we do not agree.
Sp turned to retirement
– For example, on the question of the pension from the first crown?
– Yes, but there we have experienced here in the Storting that the SP voted in favor of our proposal. They turned into the hallway during treatment and met us, after signaling for the first time that they would vote against, he says.
Andersen takes a deep breath and says that a pension from the first crown is a very important issue. It should have been introduced a long time ago.
– It is bad that we, in the private sector, have large groups that do not have adequate pension income. We will do something about it when we win the election, he says.
Labor plus Sp in government
– Is it a good idea that Norway after the elections can end a Labor-SP government, as Trygve Slagsvold Vedum wants?
– I hope there is a clear majority for a Labor-SP-SV government. The reason is that I believe that a minority government of several parties gives little government power.
– Do you think that the Labor Party should not enter a government with the Socialist People’s Party alone?
– I can’t say it forever, he says after a pause to think. It adds “if the Labor Party and the Socialist People’s Party obtained a majority.”
– But that’s a hypothetical question. Regardless of what you answer to that, you can make it a headline. I simply conclude that it is not a relevant alternative now, he says.
In the pollofpoll recaps of the December elections, the Labor Party and the Socialist People’s Party will each receive 39 seats, a total of 78. They need 85 for a majority and with SV they will have the support of 91 seats.
Is not sufficient
– Why has the Labor Party failed to become the opposition party that voters support?
– When Sp progresses so much it is because of a good job on his part. But some things are taken a bit lightly. They will have analysis and study of alternatives to the EEE agreement, they say. But in their alternative budget, they will cut the EEA contingent as of January 1 of next year. This is out of the question, says the former agriculture minister.
According to Andersen, there is great frustration associated with centralization. People feel that they cannot be seen. This is what Sp has got on well.
Andersen shares, among others, the analysis of former Labor leader Thorbjørn Jagland that there is a demand for a more social democratic politics. But voters have gone, among other things, to Sp.
– For our part, we have done a bad job. That said, I believe that both this fall’s budget discussion and the draft of a new party program show a clearly recognizable profile for the Labor Party. They are also the comments that I receive.
Internal fight and #metoo
– What are the direct reasons why the Labor Party is hovering around 20 percent today?
– One is pretty obvious. We’ve had too long periods where attention has been focused on things other than politics, he says, pointing to, among other things, the #metoo cases and the warnings that led to Trond Giske’s resignation as vice president.
He believes that the party leader’s handling of Trond Giske’s resignation was very good. But he believes that the media are more aware of the unrest in the Labor Party than in other parties.
– We are better when we talk about our politics, he says.
– Workmanship must be recognizable as Volvo
Andersen believes that Volvo and the Labor Party have similarities. In its infancy, Volvo launched its Amazon model. A safe car for people with good driving characteristics and a good used car price. Campaigns for the newer Volvo models take immediate effect, and in recent years they have also included the environmental aspect. People who buy this brand of car know what they are getting.
– Like Volvo, we must change, but we must be recognizable, he emphasizes.
He believes that the Socialist People’s Party may not be as concerned about renewal as the Labor Party.
– Many consider that the draft of the program is a clear turn to the left, do you think that is so?
– Yes, if someone wants it and thinks they get it, that’s fine. First of all, I would call it a clarification of the party’s profile. It’s on the left. We see that this arouses some emotion. The reason lies precisely here: many now recognize what the mission of the Labor Party is. It’s to level out the differences between people, he says.
