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– I have an excellent relationship with Jonas Gahr Støre. I fully support it.
This is what the former Labor leader, prime minister, chairman of the Storting and secretary general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, told Dagbladet.
Jagland published yesterday the first volume of his memoirs “You will be master of yourself”.
He thinks it’s a good read for today’s Labor leadership, which recently passed one opinion poll worse than the other.
– My book is good for the Labor Party in the sense that it is a story that has risen and fallen rapidly, especially in the last 20 to 30 years. Now it has gone down, but I am convinced that it will also go up, he says.
Thorbjørn gets less than Jens
– Not like in soccer
In his book, Thorbjørn Jagland talks about how constant negative reports about him as a person and politician eroded his self-confidence.
On the other hand, he does not see any clear parallels between the situation in which he himself found himself as a Labor leader and the current leadership.
– Nothing more than there is no easy way out. It’s not like in a soccer club where you can change managers after losing two games. This is not politics. You have to persevere, work and know that the decline is followed by a rebound, says Jagland, who has faith in the political project in which he has dedicated his life.
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– I think that social democracy is something that is present in society in a very strong way, and it will always come back.
When asked if he has any advice for Støre, the former Labor leader responds:
– It must stand firm and last. Above all, remember that ultimately it is the voters with their sacred and ordinary ballots who will decide and not opinion polls.
Shocked by Stoltenberg
Above his successor in the presidency of the party leadership, the current head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, however, puts little in the middle in the book.
He places the primary responsibility for the disastrous 2001 election result, 24.3 percent, on Stoltenberg. They then had a division of labor in which Stoltenberg was prime minister, while Jagland led the party.
Jens Stoltenberg later admitted that he knew that work was underway to remove Jagland from the party chairmanship. Jagland accuses Stoltenberg of playing dirty.
Shocked by Stoltenberg’s admission
“There have been many battles over the years over who should be the party leaders. But it has always been decided with the help of a nominating committee that presented its recommendation to the national assembly. Here, someone, in an apartment in Bislett, had appointed himself as a nominating committee and began the job of changing the leader anonymously with the help of the press, “he writes about a secret meeting that Jagland mentioned in his book a few years ago.
– It was shocking to me. He had a feeling it was so, but couldn’t imagine it being said that way. It was heavy, because my whole life has been about people gaining power through ballot papers, Jagland tells Dagbladet.
– Isn’t it part of higher politics that you have to endure power struggles?
– Yes, but it must be open and visible. That is the core of democracy, that people can vote openly. And that those in power are known.
RECEIVES CRITICISM: Jens Stoltenberg, NATO chief Photo: Tore Meek / Scanpix
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– Not bitter
However, Jagland says he doesn’t want to be bitter today and describes his relationship with Stoltenberg as “completely normal.”
– Those who have read the book are surprised that there is no kind of bitterness or revenge. What happened, happened, I continued and he continued. I am truly grateful for all that I have been able to do, he says.
Refuses to respond to Trump’s message
Stoltenberg will not comment on Jagland’s book.
-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, Stoltenberg communications adviser Sissel Kruse Larsen tells Dagbladet.
The collapse of the office
Jagland’s resignation as Labor leader turned dramatic. After a long period of intense stress, he collapsed in his Storting office in January 2002.
He also mentions the much-talked about chicken trick for NRK Bård Tufte Johansen’s profile and the “Open Mail” show.
Dressed in a yellow chicken costume, Johansen jumped on TV 2’s live broadcast outside Rikshospitalet where Jagland was. Amid what were supposed to be chicken noises, Johansen yelled, “Now we must be nice, we must not be naughty to Jagland.”
The family cried during the chicken stunt.
He says the family reacted strongly. They were reunited with their son Anders, with grandparents from both sides present. “They cried when they saw the scene outside Rikshospitalet,” he says.
Dagbladet was unable to get a comment from Bård Tufte Johansen. He explained at the time that the feature that never aired on NRK was intended to be a media critique. But he has also admitted that the point of the trick was perhaps a little weak.
Went to israel
After a week-long stay in Rikshospitalet, Jagland decided to leave to get to work.
He went to Tel Aviv, to his good friends Mona Juul and Terje Rød-Larsen. In Israel, he made the decision to resign as the Labor leader. Hospitalization was an important reason, he clarifies.
– I had to get out of the stressful situation, otherwise it would have more health consequences. I saw that the family was suffering. Anders and Henrik learned about the negative characteristics of everyday life and leisure on a daily basis. He knew how difficult it was. I could defend myself. They couldn’t. ” he writes.
Refser Gro: – The king turned into a rounding buoy
I met Epstein
Jagland’s good friend Rød-Larsen has recently been linked to the convicted Jeffrey Epstein, and Swedish authorities are investigating him after Dagens Næringsliv revealed that he owed Epstein money.
Jagland also admitted to meeting Epstein, after he first denied it. He explained that he then thought of another opportunity that Dagens Næringsliv had faced him with, and that he did not attend the meeting in 2013.
– I have nothing more to add. I had a meeting with Bill Gates, so he followed me without my having any control over it. He didn’t know who Gates came with. There might be a list, but I don’t remember if I looked at it, says Jagland, to Dagbladet about this.
He says he doesn’t see that he could have done something different.
– Not really. And my book ends in 2002, so it has not been natural for me to go into this.
