The populistic Frp party has left the Norwegian government, over the return of a woman of the radical ISIS organisation and her son. However the ultra-right Frp remains a strong force when it comes to government decisions.
Click to listen to my radio talk (in Dutch)
Scroll to 00:49:29 into the broadcast
VRT Radio 1, De Wereld Vandaag, 20 December 2020, in a 1-2 with justice and law editor Anne Vanrenterghem and presenter Ruth Joos
Falling apart seemed to be a possible outcome after the Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg decided to repatriate a woman that was part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq under strict, radical Islamic rule and were fought by soldiers from many nations including from Norway. Solberg admitted to the press it was a hard decision – Norway is not eager to repatriate those who fought for what is seen as a terrorist organisation – but out of humanitarian concern for the well-being of the very ill son of the woman both were allowed back. The boy was put into medical treatment, whilst his mother was put in jail for initially four weeks pending a court ruling whether she is found guilty for terrorism and such. However, Scandinavian countries always try to keep the mother and child somewhat together, while other countries like Belgium rather let the children come without the mothers if they were part of ISIS.
Support or hijacking government decisions
But to the Frp the acceptance of mother and son was just the last drop in a longer unhappiness about its partners in the government. After an hour talk between Frp leader and going Justice Minister Siv Jensen and Norwegian conservative prime minister Erna Solberg on Monday, the Frp decided to leave the government, but remain in control of many decisions from the opposition benches of the Stortinget (parliament), de facto supporting the sitting government or hijacking it – depending on your view of things. Why? Because Solberg will continue her reign, but with a government made up of 3 – in stead of 4 – parties which together do not have a majority in parliament without the Frp, or the opposing labour party which is on the other side of the political spectrum. | © 2020 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com. Featured photo: The Oslo Operahouse (Photo by Marcel Burger)