He was the best alternative, according to the Storting, which formally elected Masud Gharahkhani as Storting president on Thursday morning.
He has not quite made his mark on the new office, but he is happy with the view.
– Here you look towards the castle, and the King. I’m very fond of the King.
– Now you are number two after the King.
– Yes, and that’s good. Because we may become very good friends. I look forward to that.
Gharahkhani is actually a trained radiographer, and has worked at Rjukan Hospital, among other places, but his community involvement led him to politics.
He has previously been the Labor Party’s mayoral candidate in Drammen, before he was elected to the Storting in 2017. Here he has, among other things, worked to carve out the party’s new immigration policy and not shy away from demanding and controversial debates.
He will be the first president of the Storting with an immigrant background.
At the age of five, he came to Norway from Iran.
– I was born in Tehran, and then we fled to Norway both due to the war and lack of democracy.