Norway: The government crisis – A deliberate collapse?
We hereby publish an unofficial translation of an article published by Tjen Folket:
After a week of meetings and media appearances, the Labor Party is left alone in the Støre government [Translator’s note: current Norwegian government, headed by the leader of the Labor Party Jonas Gahr Stør], after a struggle over the introduction of three EU directives. In reality, the collapse of the government is about deeper problems for the bourgeois parties and for Norwegian imperialism.
The Labor Party has submitted to the government that Norway should implement three of the eight directives and regulations from the EU’s fourth energy market package. These directives are about coordinating the rules for the production and sale of energy within the EU and the EU’s internal market, of which the EEA countries [Translators note: European Economic Area] (Switzerland, Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway) are also part. As a member of the EEA, Norway has been “best in class”. Norway has over the years implemented more EU directives than many EU countries.
The interests of Norwegian imperialism
In essence, all such directives and adjustments are about the European imperialists coordinating to a greater extent, so that the European great powers and smaller imperialists become stronger against oppressed nations in Europe, and against their main imperialist competitors internationally, mainly the United States and China. For Norwegian imperialism, it is especially about how Norwegian monopoly companies and the Norwegian State can maneuver between the great powers, and get a larger share of the market and the booty.
Furthermore, Støre represents the leading Norwegian monopoly interests here. Access to the European market is crucial for Norwegian oil and gas, in addition to export industries such as the chemical industry and seafood exports. Norway has taken over Russia’s place as the largest supplier of gas to Germany, as a result of the war against Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia. Furthermore, the State owns half of all shares in Norwegian power companies. Thus, the Norwegian State does not lose out on higher electricity prices – on the contrary, the State is the one who benefits most from Norwegian electricity being sold at European prices. Thus, Støre is only doing his job as the leading representative of Norwegian State monopoly capitalism, when he pushes for adaptation to the European energy market.
Furthermore, the negotiations within the government and the collapse that became a fact today must be understood in their context.
General crisis and intensified rivalry
First, we must understand the government crisis in the context of the general crisis of imperialism, with intensified competition between the imperialists, for example the war in Ukraine and the Trump administration’s warning of a tariff war against the European powers. Prime Minister of Støre has received a clear message from the European powers that Norway is lagging behind in the implementation of EU directives. The aforementioned “package” of directives and regulations was adopted in the winter of 2018 – 2019. The war in Ukraine and the announced trade war with the United States are increasing the pressure on Norway to act as a predictable supplier of gas and electricity to the continent.
European powers and EU representatives have, according to Labor Party politicians and various commentators, sent clear signals that Norway must adapt more to the EU’s internal market. They do not accept that Norwegian imperialism only introduces popular directives, or that one only “gets” without giving anything. These threats come partly from Prime Minister Støre’s own mouth, when he himself said at his own press conference:
“What it’s about is this: If we are to secure ourselves and be confident that we will not be exposed to, for example, a trade conflict and a tariff war across the seas globally between Europe, the United States and beyond.”
In other words, the Prime Minister states that a small imperialist like Norway cannot stand alone when more conflict is brewing internationally. Furthermore, the Prime Minister states that Norwegian interests are served by the EEA agreement, as it gives the export industry in Norway access to the EU internal market. Although the three specific directives are limited, Støre sees it in the context of the entire EEA agreement and Norway’s place in the European market.
The Center Party would leave the government
Secondly, this issue has become so important for the Center Party as a result of the Party’s dramatic decline in opinion polls while they are experiencing internal struggles over the way forward. The Party experienced a huge increase in support in 2020, where they profiled themselves as a kind of “rebel Party”, especially against the so-called green shift and the tendency towards more centralization and urbanization. At the turn of the year 2020/2021, just before the general election, they were measured at over 20 percent of support. In the autumn of 2021, they made a very good elections and the Center Party to be at 13.5 percent. Now, the Party has been between 5 and 7 percent on average in the polls for the last two years. There is strong pressure within the Party that something must be done, if the Party is not to be more than halved by the election this autumn. The EU issue is perhaps the most important single issue that distinguishes the Party from other bourgeois Parties, and thus the three directives are an excellent issue to address.
The Center Party represents in particular the agricultural monopolies, but also other bourgeois forces in Norwegian rural municipalities. Some of these forces, personified in national politics by former minister Ola Borten Moe, do not have coincident interests on all issues with the Labor Party. In September 2024, Ola Borten Moe wrote a column together with Sylvi Listhaug (Translator’s Note: from the Progress Party) against “regulations and excessive taxes”. It is difficult to imagine a Labor Party politician doing something similar. Borten Moe owns a large farm, but has also invested in other industries. Together with other partners, he founded the oil company OKEA in 2015. Small and medium-sized capitalists, especially in the rural areas, linked to agriculture or other industries, have interests other than the banks and the State in several areas. The youth of the Center Party has also recently declared that they are “pissed off Labor Party” and are moving against “symbolic politics and climate policy that does not work”.
This shift represents a clear tendency within the Party, which aims at the “left” and wants to defend the small and medium-sized capitalists, as well as the agricultural monopolies and Norwegian farmers. These forces are among the biggest losers when electricity prices are high. Thus, there is a strong demand from below in the Center Party that the Party leadership must defend its position against the common European electricity market. This demand is not only about rhetoric and winning votes, although this is important, but also about defending the wallet of the bedrock of the Party: the farmers, the agricultural monopolies and small and medium-sized capitalists in the districts.
The Labor Party would govern alone
Third, many commentators declare that the collapse of the government must also be understood in light of the Labor Party’s own crisis. Just before Christmas, it was revealed that forces within the Labor Party were once again working hard to have Støre removed as Party leader. Not only does Støre lead an unpopular government, as Party leader and prime minister he himself is very unpopular as a political figure. As a result, the power struggle within the Labor Party has intensified. This is not fundamentally about Støre himself, but about the long-term crisis in social democracy. Loss of support, mayoral posts and influence sharpens the tendency for bitter competition for the remaining seats. When the prime minister is in difficulty, the challengers also become more courageous.
Støre’s hard line in the government towards the Center Party has, according to several commentators, consolidated his position of power in the Party. A compromise would have made Støre look weak, and that is the last thing he needs ahead of the spring Labor Party national conference. Instead, he has chosen to stand firm on the Labor Party’s position – to defend the EEA agreement and adaptation to the EU’s internal market – and even critics such as Trond Giske have chosen to support their leader on this issue. Although there is opposition to the EU’s energy market package also within the Labor Party, many of the same forces have also wanted a pure Labor Party government, or preferably a government in which the Socialist Left Party also participates in order to “balance” the Center Party. The commentators declare that Støre has shown a demonstration of power. He has also done this previously within the Party. This clears the way for Støre to consolidate power in the Party, and can look forward to leading the Party into the election campaign. With Sylvi Listhaug as today’s main challenger, the Labor Party is in a better position ahead of the election than it has been in several years. On the other hand: if Støre fails, he can no longer blame the Center Party, and the path to power will be even shorter for his challengers.
No difference for workers
Bourgeois politics is bourgeois politics. The different Parties represent different capital interests, and the different politicians do not only act as representatives of others – they also play a game on behalf of their own narrow interests. They can claim as much as they like that the game is only about “Norwegian interests”, but for power politicians like Støre and Vedum [Translator’s note: leader of the Center Party], this is also about their own position. They both emerge stronger from the government’s collapse, and thus there is no great mystery how the government crisis could lead to the Center Party’s demise. This was a win-win for both Parties and both Party leaders.
Ultimately, the bourgeois parliamentary game is just a circus for the masses. New twists and developments serve to lure voters back to the polls, to create the illusion that what they vote for matters to the working class. But as the Center Party has steadfastly stated, they are of course not against cooperating with the EU and the great powers in Europe. They only want better conditions for their part of the bourgeoisie. When they now want to make electricity prices an election campaign issue, we should remember that the Party has been in power for more than three years and has been partly responsible for the highest electricity prices in history. And we can also be sure that if this price were to fall, the bourgeoisie would find other ways to increase the exploitation of the working class.
The general tendency today is that the burdens are increasingly being shifted onto the shoulders of the working class and the people, to give new impulses to the State and capital in their pursuit of profit. No bourgeois Party, from the Red Party to the Liberal Party, can or will change this tendency. They all act as administrators of Norwegian imperialism in a world that is increasingly characterized by crisis and war. They agree to arm and cut back, agree to do everything they can to advance Norwegian imperialism’s interests at home and abroad, and the disagreements between them revolve around adjusting some items in the States’ budget. This may play a role for various individuals and factions in the bourgeoisie, but none of the deepest and broadest masses will notice any difference no matter who is in government.
