Bjarne Håkon Hanssen (left) is taking over as Health Minister, Dag Terje Andersen as minister for labour and immigration, and Sylvia Brustad as
Trade & Industry Minister.
PHOTO: SCANPIXStoltenberg unveils new
government line-up
 Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg reshuffled his cabinet on Friday. PHOTO: MAGNUS KNUTSEN BJØRKE Terje Riis-Johansen from the Center Party will be Norway's new Oil & Energy Minister. PHOTO: MARIT HOMMEDAL/SCANPIX Lars Peder Brekk will take over party colleague Terje Riis-Johansen's post as Agriculture Minister, and has cleared the way for Liv Signe Navarsete (left) to lead the Center Party. Navarsete already is a cabinet minister, in charge of transportation. PHOTO: TERJE BENDIKSBY/SCANPIX |
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Stoltenberg's ministerial line-up has been shaken by a series of resignations under pressure, most recently that of Oil & Energy Minister Åslaug Haga. She had to give up one of the country's most important ministerial jobs following revelations that she violated local building codes and failed to inform authorities about rental income on her property. She'd also been caught in some questionable political maneuvering earlier this year.
Haga's resignation left open both a spot for one of her small Center Party colleagues and the oil minister's post itself. It was considered too tough for a government newcomer, so it will be taken over by the current Agriculture Minister, Terje Riis-Johansen.
Moving into Riis-Johansen's vacant post will be Lars Peder Brekk from the Center Party, which champions rural and farming interests. Brekk had been named just yesterday to take over Haga's other role as leader of the party, but he resigned from that post on Friday.
Stoltenberg, faced with mounting criticism over the state of health care in Norway and a health minister who didn't want the job anymore, also agreed to relieve Health Minister Sylvia Brustad of her duties. They'll be taken over by the affable, hard-working and widely respected Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, who has been head of the ministry responsible for labour and immigration issues.
It will be taken over by Dag Terje Andersen, currently Trade and Industry Minister. Brustad, who reportedly wanted to leave the government, will instead succeed Andersen.
Stoltenberg, who presented the new government line-up to King Harald V at an extraordinary Council of State Friday evening, clearly wants to move forward from personnel crises and concentrate on his government's accomplishments amidst rising discontent among voters. Recent public opinion polls have indicated plummeting support for Stoltenberg's Labour Party, and he needs to present some good results as the re-election campaign gets underway.
Nina Berglund
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