Tanzanian Association Oslo

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Embattled cabinet

minister steps down

Åslaug Haga quit Thursday morning as both Norway's Oil & Energy Minister and leader of her political party, bowing out after a storm of criticism around building violations and questionable political maneuvering. Haga herself said her decision was not political, but rather steered by her health.

Åslaug Haga announced at a press conference Thursday morning that she was quitting as a government minister and as leader of her small political party

Haga went on sick leave last weekend after a tough week of having to fend off questions tied to illegal building projects at both her family's summer and permanent homes. Supporters claimed the violations themselves weren't major, but they raised questions about her credibility and even hypocrisy in failing to follow regulations that her own party had championed.

Political rival Siv Jensen of the Progress Party said on national TV Wednesday night that Haga had supported her own party's policies publicly and carried out the Progress Party's policies in private.

The recent revelations of building violations came just months after Haga also had to face questions over alleged back-room dealing to win support for a Winter Olympics in Tromsø and her role in arranging a state consultancy job for a party colleague who'd been forced to resign from another state-funded position.

Haga initially tried to fight the growing allegations against her, and resorted to blaming the media for taking issues out of context and invading her family's privacy. At a hastily called press conference Thursday morning, however, Haga seemed to back off from such a defense, claiming she supported the media's right to pose questions and demand answers.

She insisted, however, that she had done nothing that would prevent her "from standing up straight," and she was proud of her lengthy career in Norwegian politics. Haga, a long-time member of the farmer-supported Center Party that champions rural interests, has been a member of parliament, a state secretary in the Foreign Ministry, and a cabinet minister in both center-right and center-left government coalitions, for culture, municipal governments and, most recently, oil and energy.

"This is a personal decision," she said of her decision to step down, "not a political decision." She said that while politicians must adhere to stricter standards than the general public, and she admitted to making mistakes, it was her health that didn't allow her to tolerate the pressures of office any longer. Government ministers need "good health and strength, and I don't have that anymore."

Nor did she have the same degree of public confidence she enjoyed earlier. Questions remain as to whether she and her husband paid taxes on the illegal rental income at her home in Ås, south of Oslo.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg now needs to name a successor for Haga. Haga, who already had planned to step down as leader of the Center Party, will be initially succeeded by Lars Peder Brekk. Liv Signe Navarsete, currently Norway's transport minister, is due to take over as the party's new, permanent leader.

Pressure grows on embattled cabinet minister Haga - 12.06.2008

New blunder for Haga - 11.06.2008

Government minister caught in embarrassing building permit violation - 10.06.2008

Aftenposten English Web DeskNina Berglund