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PARHESTER: Martin Kolberg and Thorbjørn Jagland together at the national meeting of the Labor Party in November 1996. A few weeks earlier, Jagland had assumed the post of prime minister, while Kolberg had been sent from SMK to the Ministry of Defense. Photo: Jon Eeg
Former Labor Secretary Martin Kolberg reacts sharply to Thorbjørn Jagland’s description of the gap between the two in the fall of 1996. Jagland writes in his recent book that it was Kolberg who took the lead in the gap.
VG has sent the corresponding chapter to Kolberg:
– It is not a correct presentation, answers Martin Kolberg.
Lier’s two childhood friends had been ducks in Norwegian politics for nearly 25 years. Privately, they were also so close that Kolberg and his wife Aud got engaged when Jagland married Hanne Grotjord in 1976.
Jagland had replaced Gro Harlem Brundtland as leader of the Labor Party in 1992. In 1996, he brought Martin Kolberg to the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK) as Secretary of State and Chief of Staff.
It was widely interpreted as Kolberg’s appointment to pave the way for Jagland to take over as prime minister after Gro, long before the 1997 parliamentary elections.
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He was sent to the Ministry of Defense
But when Gro thought the time was right and announced his resignation, Kolberg was not allowed to continue as chief of staff. Instead, the new Prime Minister Jagland appointed his old friend Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defense.
The surprise was great. The one who was most surprised and bitter about the accident was Martin Kolberg himself:
“If you put aside some of the so-called private things in life, then this is the hardest of all. To this day, I don’t quite understand it and it still bothers me,” Kolberg said in an interview with Dagsavisen in 2017. .
BOOK OF WRITING: Martin Kolberg has said that Jagland’s rejection of him by SMK in 1996 is the most difficult he has experienced in a long life in politics. It also ended a long friendship, and since then they have hardly spoken. Jagland’s book is now available. Kolberg will come with a book later. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen
Jagland: took the initiative
Jagland’s autobiography is available in bookstores Wednesday morning.
“In retrospect, a great point has been made that Martin Kolberg was not appointed,” writes Jagland in the autobiography “You Will Own It Yourself.”
“The truth is that it was he who took the initiative to make it happen,” he continues.
Martin Kolberg and Thorbjørn Jagland had been together since their youth in Lier.
Division
Jagland’s version of the rape is that during a 1995 car trip from the Storting and Lier’s house, where they both lived, Kolberg suddenly said:
“I think it’s prudent for the two of us to separate teams now. We’ve followed each other our whole lives. Usually, it’s advisable that this ends at some point.”
“When the question of electing the head of the Prime Minister’s Office came up, I stuck to what Martin wanted. I didn’t want to discuss it with him, it might seem like pressure to make a different decision than what he thought was correct in 1995, “writes Jagland.
Instead, the new prime minister chose Britt Schultz, who was the party’s secretary, as his chief of staff.
“When Martin heard about the choice of Britt Schultz, he came to my house. He was very disappointed and wanted me to change the decision,” writes Jagland.
“That night I explained to Martin that I couldn’t change my mind. I had asked someone else. I was very sorry about what happened,” he continues.
He also writes book
Martin Kolberg is now working on his own autobiography along with Dagsavisen commentator Hege Ulstein.
For VG, Kolberg does not want to elaborate on his version of the bitter 1996 agreement and what he thinks about Jagland’s version.
– I do not comment more now. But I’ll comment on that in the book I’m working on, Kolberg tells VG Tuesday night.
In 2017, he said this to Dagsavisen:
– I’m waiting for Thorbjørn to write his book and maybe say something else, but it’s not sure if he will. But I went to Gro from here, as head of secretary, by appointment with him.
He became prime minister in the barber chair
In the book, Jagland confirms the story that he was completely caught off guard with the hairdresser when Gro announced his resignation at the Storting on October 23, 1996.
The previous year, Gro had indicated to Jagland that there might be a change before the 1997 elections. But nothing more had been said between them on that matter, according to Jagland.
“Gro called the night before and said, ‘He’ll probably be at the Storting tomorrow.’ That was it, ”writes Thorbjørn Jagland.
