Tanzanian Association Oslo

Register needed to stop

corruption, say experts

Many academics and and politicians think that complete transparency around lobbyist's contact with ministers and other politicians will strengthen democracy and avoid corruption. The Minister for Administration and Reform, Heidi Grande Røys, disagrees.

Heidi Grande Røys, Minister of Government Administartion and Reform, earlier this week rejected a lobbying register. PHOTO: KNUT FALCH / SCANPIX

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"It would be naïve not to believe that power and money influence politics in Norway, in the same way that they do in other countries," says Tina Søreide, senior researcher at Chr. Mikkelsen's Institute in Bergen.

Earlier this week, the Government was criticised for not telling which lobbyists and organized special interest groups the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers are meeting.

Socialist Left Party (SV) minister Heidi Grande Røys wrote a letter to parliament rejecting a lobby register, despite her own party leader having made a similar proposal for just such a register earlier on.

Both the Liberal Party (V) and SV have argued for the introduction of procedures for registering lobbying in Parliament. Now they want to extend this to include the Government as well.

Many experts feel that the Government should reverse its decision and adopt proposal made by the Liberals.

Professor Andreas Føllesdal, at the University of Oslo's Center for Human Rights, thinks that a lobby register is important if people are to have confidence in the political system.

"Lobbyists are paid by those who hire them to grab attention for their own special causes, at the expense of other solutions and issues. This becomes a dangerous development if it is allowed to go on without the public's knowledge. A lobby register would make things much easier for journalists and academics to discover when particular groups were getting an unfair amount of attention, adds Føllesdal.

Law professor Jan Fridtjof Bernt at the University of Bergen, also thinks that the public has a right to know when politicians are contacted by lobbyist. He doesn't think practical problems about setting limits for what should be registered should stop new procedures from being adopted.

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