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Simen Bondevik (20) will be the leader of Unge Sentrum, the youth organization of the new Sentrum party.
Simen Bondevik will be the leader of Unge Sentrum, the youth organization of the new Sentrum party. Photo: Bjørge, Stein
Late at night, on November 2, 2018, it is clear: Knut Arild Hareide has lost the choice of road in KrF. He announces his resignation as party leader.
At a Gardermoen hotel, he gives his toughest speech as a KrF leader.
In his speech, one name stands out:
Simen Bondevik.
Although the majority chose cooperation with the right, Hareide wanted to keep KrF united: At the next crossroads, KrF can, if KrF is a center party, choose cooperation with the Labor Party and the Socialist People’s Party, Hareide said.
– Perhaps it is Simen Bondevik who will lead KrF into a government collaboration with the Labor Party and the Socialist People’s Party, Hareide told a silent and sleepy national assembly.
It will not be so.
Foundation meeting on Monday night
The grandson of the former prime minister and head of KrF, Kjell Magne Bondevik, will be the leader of Unge Sentrum.
It became clear Monday night. At a meeting of the digital foundation, the Sentrum youth organization was established. A board was elected, with Simen Bondevik as chairman, and the statutes of the new youth party were approved.
On Tuesday, the foundation documents will be sent to the Brønnøysund registries. As soon as the documents are registered, Unge Sentrum is established.
While Geir Lippestad’s new party, Sentrum, is working feverishly to collect 5,000 signatures before the new year, which is the requirement to be registered as a political party before next year’s elections, Unge Sentrum is already a reality.
The same rules are not established for the founding of a youth political organization as for the establishment of a political party.
I would give Ropstad a chance
Simen Bondevik was very down when it became clear that the KrF leadership election ended the government’s cooperation with the right wing.
Still, I wanted to give Kjell Ingolf Ropstad’s “New KrF” a try. He agreed to become the leader of Viken KrF. But this fall it was enough. I quit. And in the center.
Simen Bondevik and grandfather Kjell Magne Bondevik were very disappointed when the KrF leadership choice ended with a majority to cooperate with the right wing. Here, a crying Simen Bondevik is comforted by his grandfather at the fateful national KrF meeting on November 2, 2018. Photo: Ruud, Vidar / NTB scanpix
He wrote on his Facebook wall that Ropstads KrF has become a Christian conservative party. He was unable to join a party that failed in the “climate strikes”, “the children of the Moria camp” and the “LGBTI people”.
Thankful for the trust
He says he is very grateful for the trust that has been shown in being elected chairman of the board in Unge Sentrum.
– I hope to be part of building a youth party from scratch.
He has no doubt that the “mother party” will collect the 5,000 necessary signatures before 2021.
– No, I’m pretty sure. We did it with a good final sprint, he says.
He emphasizes that he is chosen as Chairman and that then a national meeting will be held to elect the final leadership.
– Now begins the great work of founding the provincial councils, preparing policies and not least: Planning the national meeting to be held in January. We will do all this without a penny in the coffers, but with the commitment that this political project has created among young people across the country. I’m sure it will turn out very well, says Bondevik.
He says Unge Sentrum should be a youth party that draws attention to issues “that really matter.”
An offensive climate and environmental policy, a generous and humane immigration and asylum policy and the fight against racism, discrimination and exclusion will be fundamental.
He wants Unge Sentrum to become “a community” with a low threshold.
– If there is someone between 13 and 29 years old who feels committed and wants to help make history by building a youth party from scratch, I hope they will sign up or send me a message. We have more than enough to do, he says.
May be something bigger than Hareides KrF
– Can Sentrum be the party Knut Arild Hareide tried to turn KrF into?
– No. The center is by no means something KrF 2.0. But many at KrF who supported Knut Arild will likely recognize themselves, he says.
At the same time, he believes that Sentrum will be something completely different than “just one faction in KrF.”
He believes that the Center brings something completely new to Norwegian politics by basing all policies on the sustainability goals of the UN and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
– No one else has done it before. The center can be somewhat larger and wider than what Knut Arild wanted to create.
Simen bondevik Photo: Helmine Syvertsen
Therefore, he believes that Sentrum’s potential goes far beyond becoming a haven for Red KrF members. He says that the established parties have failed to resolve the climate crisis or the natural crisis.
– I think the potential is equally great among Labor and Social Democratic voters who want good climate policy, but are also tired of Norwegian immigration policy turning into rigorous competition, he says.
– I also believe that Sentrum can become a party for members of the MDGs and SVs who want good climate policy combined with the fight against exclusion. And, of course, for the voters of Venstre and KrF who want a center party that does not let the extreme right go to power.
