The FRP Party asks the National Audit Office to investigate the past 10 years of the Norwegian Conservative Solberg government.

By VG.no - BJORN HAUGAN - 21 September 2023, 15:29 LST

FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug has today sent a letter to the Storting in which they ask the Storting's presidency to ask the National Audit Office to enter into all possible integrity cases in the last ten years - including Frp.

The short version

• FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug has sent a letter to the Storting in which she asks for a broad review of possible integrity cases during Erna Solberg's time as prime minister, including when the FRP was in government.
• They believe that the National Audit Office is best suited to carry out this investigation, which will deal with current and former government members, including state secretaries and political advisers.
• Hans Andreas Limi, 1st deputy leader of the FRP, claims that today there are few opportunities to investigate previous governments and that the method they propose can do something about that.

For the Solberg government - where the FRP was involved from 2013 to 2020 - the FRP requests that the National Audit Office carry out the investigations.

The work will deal with sitting and former government members, including state secretaries and political advisers:

At the same time as Conservative leader Erna Solberg is being grilled by the Norwegian press on Thursday, 1st deputy leader of the Frp, Hans Andreas Limi, confirms to VG that they want a comprehensive investigation.

- When such cases arise, it shakes the trust in all politicians and the entire political system. In order to rebuild trust, it is important that people can feel confident that all the facts will come to light and that cases will be thoroughly investigated. Today, there are few opportunities for either the control committee or individual parties to investigate former members of the government, he says.

Limi says there should be a broad review, not just of the summer's and late summer's eligibility cases.

- We believe that the National Audit Office is best suited to carry out a thorough, credible, and unbiased review of former ministers back to 2013, he says.

Here are key formulations in Listhaug's letter to the Presidency:

"A challenge for the matter being dealt with in the control and constitutional committee is that it is very limited what can be uncovered from how the previous government has handled the competence regulations."

The National Audit Office

"Unlike the current government, there is no apparatus that can answer questions, and the archive from the previous government is not available. There is therefore a need for an unbiased and independent review of the previous government. There are several ways such a review can be organized. It is our opinion that the investigations should be carried out by the National Audit Office".

Listhaug emphasizes that the National Audit Office is the Storting's body for audit and control and has broad competence and experience in investigating whether the administration in its activities has complied with the Storting's decisions and assumptions, including applicable legal rules.

"We, therefore, believe that the National Audit Office is suitable to carry out such an investigation".

Key points

Listhaug requests the following comprehensive framework for the investigation:

• The investigation should look at the degree/extent to which members of the government (including state secretaries and political advisers) have declared themselves ineligible.
• It should also be assessed whether there is reason to assume that members of the government should have declared themselves ineligible, but have not done so.
• Several of the cases uncovered by the media indicate that ownership has led to disqualification. In some cases, the incapacity has not been known to the person who has been incapacitated, despite the duty to know this. It should therefore be investigated whether cases involving ownership (also for
  close relatives) have resulted in disqualification.
• Other cases uncovered by the media indicate that close personal relationships have led to disqualification. It should therefore be investigated whether awareness of such conditions is sufficient.
• The investigation should look at both matters concerning appointments, grants, licenses/permits, or any other advantage someone may have from matters dealt with or decided by the government (including state secretaries and political advisers).

– Asks for setting

The FRP leader concludes:

"In order to have a uniform review, which covers the uncovered cases, the investigation should cover sitting and former government members (including state secretaries and political advisers) either ten years back, or sitting and previous government.
We ask that the Presidency draw up a recommendation to the Storting to carry out special investigations into the present complex of cases".

The Solberg case

Limi has followed the media's press sessions with Solberg today.

- Erna has answered a number of questions today, but little new has come to light. It is important to get to the bottom of the cases in which Erna may have been incompetent, and there is still uncertainty about what information Erna has had about Sindre's shareholding at any time, or whether transaction lists should have been presented at an earlier time, he says.

Limi says that before "an external and unbiased review has been carried out, it is difficult for all outsiders to know whether there are questions that have not been sufficiently clarified, or other competency challenges surrounding other ministers that should have been clarified".

Published: Published: 21.09.23 at 15:29