After a week of political drama in Norway’s oil capital of Stavanger, its mayor from the Conservative Party has confirmed she’s resigning after misuing around NOK 50,000 in party funds. Sissel Knutsen Hegdal formally sought release from her mayoral duties just before the weekend after also leaving the party.
Confusion reigned for several days after Hegdal first admitted she’d made mistakes with a party credit card and then headed off on sick leave. Disagreements among her Conservative Party colleagues arose over whether the case should be turned over to the police, and between the party’s local and national party leadership.
Some commentators called it another example of misdeeds among Norwegian politicians, their attempts to hang on to power and not wanting their records to be left soiled. The drama in Stavanger has also left the city with unclear leadership. The Conservatives want to simply replace Hegdal with another of their own, in order to retain their majority in local government. More meetings were due this week.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
