Søgne – Knocked to the ground

KRISTIANSAND (Dagbladet): On her summer tour in Southern Norway, Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg stops by Kristiansand and the core of the dispute for the fight to rebuild Søgne municipality.

Before the summer holidays, Jonas Gahr Støre had to move out here to put out the fire that flared up when the government spoke to the municipal politicians opposite.

The municipal board in Kristiansand rejected a referendum on the dissolution of the old Søgne and Sogndalen municipalities, but the government led by finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum insisted.

Labor mayors around the country called it overrunning.

– Creates unrest

Solberg is now ready with rambling criticism of the government’s efforts in the matter.

– It was surprising to everyone simply because the Hurdal platform signaled that this should be done before the summer, so that the Storting could make a decision and so that things would be in place for the next municipal election, says Erna Solberg to Dagbladet and continues:

– Suddenly long after all these deadlines have expired, they suddenly come with Kristiansand. It is a surprising process and poorly thought out, because they create unrest in the organ session over a long, long time.

With him on the tour of Kristiansand is Solberg Høyre’s mayoral candidate in the southern capital ahead of the election next autumn, Mathias Bernander.

– When I heard the news, I was knocked to the ground that they were going for a referendum. It was simply a shock, says Bernander to Dagbladet.

– The weak are the losers

Erna Solberg believes that it is clear who will be the losers from a new division of the new large municipality.

– Those who lose are the groups who need the public the most.

Solberg refers to professional reports from the merged municipalities of Ålesund and Kinn which, according to her, show better offers for residents.

– They are very clear that there have been better services for some of the weaker groups after the municipal mergers, says Solberg.

No rematch

The right-wing leader is also concerned about the employees of Kristiansand municipality, who she believes will find it difficult if they have to go through a new round of moving municipal boundaries.

– For those who work in the municipality, this is hugely challenging, and it affects the services when people do not know whether they can plan ahead.

The municipal director in Kristiansand municipality has previously told Dagbladet that she has struggled with sleeping at night as a result of the prospect of a split.

– I use a lot of energy and worry a little about the future, says municipal director Camilla Dunsæd to Dagbladet.

Despite Erna’s merciless judgment, she still promises now that there will be no rematch if the right-wing takes the government offices after a dissolution has been initiated.

– No, we can’t keep doing it all the time. You can’t put the same municipalities in a situation like that again: Now we couldn’t plan either because now a new government is coming.

– That is the stupid thing this government is doing. It is that once you have reorganized and you have changes and structures, adopted democratically, then you have to change it, so you put people in limbo for a long time.

– Must have respect

The former prime minister goes so far as to suggest that Vedum and the rest of the government have a lack of respect for the citizens.

– A lot of effort has been spent in these municipalities to build together good municipalities, public employees, to build together old cultures, now we are going to break it up again. I do not intend to take responsibility for that. You have to respect people. You have to have respect for the people this is really about.

After the government granted a special exception for Kristiansand and set the municipal council’s decision aside, the state administrator is now conducting an investigation into a possible solution.

Kristiansand mayor Jan Oddvar Skisland (Ap) has distinguished himself as a strong opponent of the dissolution. To Dagbladet, he says that he is now awaiting the state administrator’s investigation into the matter. He still hopes to avoid a dissolution of the municipality.

– Was shocked

Mayoral candidate Mathias Bernander says he is optimistic ahead of the upcoming battle for Kristiansand municipality.

– When we get our heads together a bit and think about how we are going to meet this debate, our answer is to meet it with good policy for the whole municipality, says Bernander to Dagbladet.

– We have the same answers, and in that sense we are entering this debate offensively, but we were shocked that the government could override Kristiansand and a decision in that way.

The State Administrator’s report is expected to be ready around the New Year. Then, according to the plan, a consultation will be held among the citizens, and there may also be a referendum.

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