A majority on the Norwegian Parliament’s disciplinary committee plans to launch a probe into not only how three government ministers have landed in conflicts of interest, but also how government itself handles the issue. It’s more bad news for an already embattled Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
“We believe there is reason to open a case against ministers Tonje Brenna, Anette Trettebergstuen and Ola Borten Moe,” the leader of the disciplinary committee, Peter Frølich of the Conservatives, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Tuesday. “We want to handle them as a single case, though, because all their conflicts of interest are tied to the Støre government’s observance of rules meant to ensure impartiality.”
The committee plans to meet on Thursday. The Conservatives, the Progress Party and the Liberal Party are expected to push through the probe after neither they nor some other opposition parties in Parliament were satisfied with answers they’ve received to questions that led to the resignations of Trettebergstuen and Moe. Brenna has not resigned her post as education minister, but apologized for appointing friends and acquainances to various boards. Moe, meanwhile, also bought stock in companies in which the government has stakes, and attended government meetings at which major contracts with the companies were discussed.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
