Bjørn Stærk blog - Jan Petersen steps down

Monday February 02, 2004 by Bjørn Stærk

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen is stepping down as leader of the Conservative Party, after 10 years in charge.

I've come to like Petersen less and less. The Conservatives have a potential to be a good, moderate right-wing party, one that could lead a cautiously pro-American foreign policy abroad and serve as a counter-weight to the more radical populists in the Progress Party at home. There's a need for someone to play that role, even if I'm more partial to the Progress Party myself. But even a moderate party requires principles. The Conservatives, in coalition with the Christian People's Party (KrF) since 2001, have chosen the path of least resistance. Their foreign policy has been without backbone, avoiding offense above all else. While sitting on the UNSC in 2002, the government actually refused to have an opinion on Iraq until the UNSC made up its mind - a circularity which kind of defeats the purpose of sitting on a security council.

At home, the Conservatives have compromised with KrF on so many issues that their only qualification to the term "right-wing" is that they haven't actually turned to the left. How much of this is due to Jan Petersen I don't know, but in addition to the politics, Petersen's personality is also part of their problem. He doesn't have one - from a media point of view. That would be a disadvantage even if their politics were good, which they aren't. Things may not improve without him, but it can't hurt to try.

The two top candidates to replace Petersen are the Minister of Finance, Per-Kristian Foss, and the Minister of Regional Affairs (etc.), Erna Solberg. Foss doesn't appeal to me. I don't think he has much to offer outside the world of finance, and I don't like what he's done there. Solberg could be a good choice. She has a reputation of having a backbone, which could be a codeword for "stubborn", but at least it's change in the right direction. (Update: Foss just turned down his candidacy.)

And there are more changes coming in the political landscape here. Valgerd Svarstad Haugland retired as leader of the Christian People's Party this month, in favor of Dagfinn Høybråten, the man who as Minister of Health has banned smoking in pubs and restaurants. ("They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it.") I can't see how he'll rescue KrF from the depths of public apathy, and that's just fine with me. I'm more excited about Carl I. Hagen's intended retirement as leader of the Progress Party in 2006. It's not that he has done a bad job. He nearly built the party from scratch, admittedly through various purges and authoritarian measures, but the end result is a party I think will survive without him. And it's time to put that to the test. Siv Jensen is next in line for leadership, and I think she's more than qualified.