Oslo's mayor faces resignation demands

The pressure on Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen

hit the boiling point by Monday.

PHOTO: JARL ERICHSEN/SCANPIX.

Erna Solberg asked Ditlev-Simonsen to

refrain from taking part in the current election campaign,

after he admitted having had a Swiss bank account.

PHOTO: ODD INGE SJÆVESLAND

____________________________

Calls grew over the weekend for Per Ditlev-Simonsen to either resign as mayor of Oslo or at least stop campaigning for candidates from his party, the Conservatives (Høyre), after he admitted having had a Swiss bank account that wasn't reported to Norwegian tax authorities.

Much of the criticism and moral indignation lodged against Ditlev-Simonsen came, predictably enough, from opposition politicians. The head of Oslo's chapter of the Labour Party, Jan Bøhler, was quick to claim that Ditlev-Simonsen should cease all campaign activity, while the head of Norway's Socialist Left Party, Kristin Halvorsen, called Ditlev-Simonsen's tax evasion "a serious breach of trust."

Halvorsen added that it was "especially serious that Oslo's highest-ranking leader, who manages other people's tax money, has himself avoided taxes."

Halvorsen, moreover, is also Norway's current Finance Minister with ultimate responsibility for the country's strict tax regulations. Her evaluation and underlying criticism can't simply be dismissed, therefore, as part of party politics.

Even the leader of the Conservatives herself, Erna Solberg, called for Ditlev-Simonsen to refrain from campaigning for candidates in the upcoming local elections. She worried that his presence would shift focus from the campaign issues themselves.

Admission Friday nightAfter initially refusing to comment on allegations of a Swiss bank account, Ditlev-Simonsen admitted he'd had access to such an account and had never reported it on his tax returns. The allegations had emerged in a bitter divorce suit involving his daughter.
Ditlev-Simonsen claimed the account was closed around 1995, when he became mayor of Oslo. Before that, though, he'd held other top party posts and was Norway's Defense Minister in the Syse government when the account apparently still existed.

Ditlev-Simonsen wouldn't say, however, where the money had come from nor how much money was involved. If reported in Norway, it would have been subject to the country's tax on personal wealth (formueskatt), which comes in addition to income tax.

Late wife's money?Newspaper VG reported over the weekend that the Swiss bank account had belonged to Ditlev-Simonsen's first wife, who died of cancer in March 1990. The money was then inherited by her family.

Newspaper Aftenposten reported Monday that the personal fortune that was reported on Ditlev-Simonsen's 1995 tax return triped, from NOK 893,000 to NOK 2.7 million. His income more than doubled, to NOK 3.1 million. Ditlev-Simonsen said he couldn't explain the increase.
He was expected to do some explaining Monday afternoon, when he was to meet a special city commission formed to investigate internal cases. The commission consists of representatives from the Conservatives, Labour, the Progress Party and the Socialist Left parties.

Ditlev-Simonsen has received support from the Oslo chapter of the Conservatives, many of whom are colleagues in city government, putting them at odds with the national party organization that's asked him to refrain from campaign activity.

His term as mayor already was due to run out this fall regardless because Ditlev-Simonsen, age 75, is retiring. If the Conservatives secure enough votes, another member of the party is to be appointed to replace Ditlev-Simonsen.

Aftenposten English Web Desk

Nina Berglund