Steinar Sagen was offered a list place in the MDGs by Lan Marie Berg

– I’m a little in the think tank. Or the think tank, if you will, says Steinar Sagen to Dagbladet.

When he recently had MDG top Lan Marie Berg as a podcast guest, it had a somewhat unexpected outcome:

After the recording, a Messenger message from Lan Marie Berg ticked in with an offer to be on the MDGs list before the municipal election.

– I think it was both good and cozy, says Sagen.

Sagen is known from the podcast «Papaya», formerly «Radioresepsjonen», which he runs together with Bjarte Tjøstheim and his brother Tore Sagen. He has also starred in TV series such as “Side by Side” and “Lilyhammer”.

But he has not been a politician. Sagen initially agreed to have a coffee with her.

Star-studded

This is not the first time MDG in Oslo has tried to recruit famous people to be on their list.

Before the local elections in 2015, the party won Erlend Loe, the author behind, among other things, the “Kurt” books, and “Doppler”. They also secured Lars Lillo-Stenbergfrontman and vocalist in deLillos.

Several well-known academics were also on the list, the social anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksenbiologists Day O. Hessen and the literary scholar Nina Witoszek.

From bottom to top

Both Loe and Lillo-Stenberg had agreed to be list-filled at the bottom of the list, but received so many personal votes that they both became deputy representatives in Oslo.

“Koko that you personally voted me from 65th to 12th place on the MDG list. Be glad I did not come in. Knows little about politics. Completely blown away “, Erlend Loe wrote Twitter that time. He ended up on the urban development committee.

This is exactly what scares Steinar Sagen when he now considers whether he should ask.

– Someone before you has ended up on the city council, as deputy representatives?

– Yes, that is what is scary, says Sagen.

MDG-Lan: – He seems fun

MDG’s Lan Marie Berg says it is not a stated strategy to fill up the list with well-known names like Sagens. But that it may well be that more people are contacted.

– All members are encouraged to record people who can be on the list. I got the idea myself, and he seemed cool. And he is also an MDG member, says Berg to Dagbladet.

Berg and her husband Eivind Trædal (MDG) were guests in the couples therapy podcast “Catrin and Steinar save the relationship”, which Steinar Sagen runs together with his wife, the couple therapist Catrin Sagen.

– I felt that a politician lived in him. He revealed that he was an MDG, so we joked about it, says Berg.

Then it suddenly became a reality.

– When I got home, I thought why not, she laughs. I asked if he could think of it, and if we could have a coffee. He said yes to that.

– Always a danger

She says the outcome will be up to the nomination meeting if he says yes.

– You often think there are so many good people there that you are not needed yourself. That’s how I joined the MDGs, I was asked if I wanted to get involved and said yes. Then I suddenly got more positions, she says.

– Is there a danger that he will suddenly gain political power in Oslo?

– There is always a danger of being accumulated. We have made good choices in recent years and received more than ever, says Berg.

Fight at the top

It is a matter of getting a throne at the top of MDG’s Oslo list in the run-up to the municipal elections next autumn.

Transport Agency Councilor Sirin Stav, Finance Agency Councilor Einar Wilhelmsen and City Council Representative Sabina Syed are all clear that they want first place, according to Aftenposten.

– Is it a hard fight?

– Yes, it is clear it will be a tough battle for places on the list. It will be very exciting. We have an incredible number of good people and many current ones, says Berg.

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