Global Courant
Despite seventeen interviews, a press conference and a separate timeline: the media and political competitors continue to delve into unanswered questions.
There are no indications that Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg will be able to put the stock issue behind her anytime soon.
view morePublished: 29/09/2023 11:51
There are at least four factors that ensure that the stock scandal will hang over Erna Solberg for a long time:
1) Ecocrime
Whether Økokrim will open an investigation into Erna Solberg and Sindre Finnes will be decided in the autumn.
– We will assess whether there are grounds to open an investigation into possible violations of the rules in the Securities Trading Act, said Økokrim chief Pål Lønseth.
On September 19, he estimated that it would take “at least a few weeks” before they reached a conclusion.
If the case is dismissed, it will of course be a relief for Erna Solberg. If they start an investigation, it will be something that will haunt her for a long time.
If it ends with charges against Erna Solberg or Sindre Finnes, the seriousness will increase even further. Solberg himself has said that it will then be difficult to continue as leader of the Conservative Party.
2) The control committee
The Storting’s Audit and Constitution Committee will also investigate Erna Solberg’s competency case.
A joint committee has asked her for a written explanation by October 3.
According to Audun Lysbakken of SV, it is the first time that a former prime minister or minister has been asked to make such a statement. Usually the committee only checks the incumbent government.
– But this is an unusual case and it is necessary, Lysbakken tells Aftenposten.
The main question for the committee is to find out whether Solberg has been disqualified in more cases than is known as a result of her husband’s hidden stock transactions.
The committee will also hold an open hearing on the issue in November. Erna Solberg will undoubtedly be asked to explain herself here. For a sitting minister, an audit case can ultimately result in a vote of no confidence. Solberg does not risk that, but the audit case could end with a decision on criticism.
3) Trust in the party
Erna Solberg is elected leader of the Conservative Party until the next national meeting. It will take place in March 2025.
It is confidence in the party that ultimately determines whether it remains in office or not.
If Solberg steps down, an extraordinary national meeting will be convened to elect a new leader.
This week, Aftenposten also conducted a survey among the mayors of Høyre. One of them thinks that Solberg would be wise to say goodbye now. A majority of those who responded say it is too early to decide whether the party’s prime minister candidate in the 2025 general election will be named Erna Solberg.
In the past, Aftenposten has also spoken to Høyre district leaders. They expressed confidence in Solberg, but several expressed distrust in Sindre Finnes.
– They have to figure that out among themselves, and then the party has to take it further from there, says Harald Furre, leader of Agder Høyre.
4) The unanswered questions
– Complete stock lists
Erna Solberg has presented a list of more than 3,600 stock transactions that her husband carried out while she was prime minister.
It only contains the name, date and number of securities that Sindre Finne’s shares bought or sold. But it lacks the amounts he traded for and the time. Also course details for Finnes’ trading in derivativestrading in derivativesMore advanced effects, often with higher risk. is left out – something he has succeeded in on a grand scale.
Høyre has confirmed that it has removed certain information from the lists it received from Finnes.
The quality of the list is not guaranteed by a third party. Several parties are demanding that Solberg submit a complete list. They believe that a complete list is needed to calculate the exact size of Finnes’ shareholding. Size is important in determining competency.
– We need complete transparency, and then edited lists are not the right choice, says Frode Jacobsen (Ap), among others.
Solberg states that stock prices and trading times are personal data and that it is Sindre Finnes who owns this data.
– Incompetent in several cases?
Her husband’s stock trading may have disqualified Erna Solberg from several cases she faced in government when she was prime minister.
Solberg herself singled out Hydro as a company against which she was possibly incompetent.
Solberg’s government allowed Hydro and the energy company Lyse to take over the large Røldal-Suldal power plant in western Norway in 2020. When the decision was made, Solberg and her husband Sindre Finne owned shares worth approximately NOK 200,000 in Hydro.
It is still unclear whether there are more such cases where Solberg may have been disqualified.
So the stock case is far from over for Erna Solberg
World News,Next Big Thing in Public Knowledg
#stock #case #Erna #Solberg
