– I will use all legal means to stop this. I have not encouraged anything other than what is legal, said mayor Kristian Frisvold in Lom when he was a guest on Politisk kvarter on NRK this morning.
On Monday, he declared full war against the county politicians in Innlandet during a municipal council meeting.
Frisvold is elected for Bygdelista, but is a member of Høyre. He says he is willing to use all legal means to fight against an expected decision on Wednesday regarding the closure of small schools in Innlandet.
“Everything is allowed,” said the mayor, and he would take personal action against county council politicians from the Labour Party, the Green Party, and his own party Høyre. They stand united behind a majority in the county council that has proposed closing Dokka and Skarnes high schools, as well as the school sites Dombås, Lom, Flisa, and Sønsterud.
– As much dirt as possible
– We will bring up all possible dirt. If I get documentation, I will use it. That’s how it is. It’s war, he stated.
The following day, Frisvold confirmed that he still stands by his statements. When asked by the program host if he still stands by yesterday’s comments after having slept on it, Frisvold replied that he stands by what he said.
– Yes, I do, said Frisvold and reiterated that he has done nothing but encourage the use of all legal means.
– It is permissible to investigate whether people have clean hands, says Frisvold.
The proposal for school closures has been approved by a narrow majority both in the Main Committee for Education and in the County Council. The case will be finalized on Wednesday in the County Council in Innlandet. More than Frisvold are highly critical of the political constellation that stands behind the proposal and is likely to form a majority during the vote on Wednesday.
Mehl: Prostitution
Centrist party top and justice minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) is a parliamentary representative from Innlandet. Her own school is among those proposed for closure. She recently stated that she believes county mayor Thomas Breen has been willing to prostitute himself to gain power and position.
– I can’t see that anything else has happened. It’s a metaphorical phrase, she said Tuesday morning.
– The Labour Party ran on having a decentralized school structure. The day after the election, they entered a collaboration with Høyre, where they got among other things the county mayor. It’s hard to see that they achieved any other political victories there, for giving Høyre this matter, which is pure centralization, says Mehl on Politisk kvarter.
Breen has not wanted to debate with Mehl because he believes she, as justice minister, is mixing roles. Group leader Joakim Ekseth for Høyre in Innlandet agrees.
– She is justice minister, and she cannot disconnect from that. So what she is doing here is an untimely mixing of roles, says Ekseth.
Pulling in the government collaboration
The parliamentary leader of the Centrist Party, Marit Arnstad, believes on her part that parliamentary colleague Per Olaf Lundteigen misses the mark when he brings the government collaboration into the heated debate.
To VG, he and four local party colleagues say that the ruckus around school closures in Innlandet could have consequences for the government collaboration with the Labour Party.
– Here I think Lundteigen misses the mark. It is when Høyre and Ap find each other locally and centrally that centralization accelerates, writes Arnstad in a text message to NTB.
– With Sp in the government, we have seen a completely different district policy offensive than before. This must continue, not least with the increase in municipal and county funding that the government has announced, she writes.