Tuva Moflag gets new top job as fiscal spokesperson – Dagsavisen

– This is a big and important task that you just have to dive into right away. We are in the middle of the parliamentary session, so there is no time for any training. It will be busy from the start, here you just have to jump in, says Tuva Moflag (Ap), who will be elected as the new head of the finance committee in the Storting on Wednesday.

It is certainly one of the Storting’s most prestigious top positions, if you disregard the parliamentary leaders of the various parties.

– With Tuva Moflag as the new leader, the finance committee is guaranteed both an experienced negotiator and a skilled and profiled politician. She will have a key role in budget negotiations going forward, said APS parliamentary leader Rigmor Aasrud ​​in a press release, just after the party’s parliamentary group had pointed to Moflag as the new committee leader and fiscal spokesperson in a meeting.

Huitfeldt castration

It was the appointment of Anniken Huitfeldt as Norway’s new ambassador in Washington that triggered a major reshuffle in the APS parliamentary group. Aps Rune Størstad, for example, takes over Huitfeldt’s position as second deputy leader and faction leader in the business committee – in which she has sat after she had to step down as foreign minister in October last year. Tuva Moflag was thus moved from her position as faction leader and second deputy leader in the labor and social committee to faction leader and new leader in the finance committee. Her predecessor, Aps Eigil Knutsen, announced at the end of March that he would resign from the position, and that he would not stand for re-election to the Storting in 2025.

Nils Kristen Sandtrøen will be the new deputy chairman of the finance committee, while Åse Kristin Ask Bakke will be the new chairman of Ap’s family faction.

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Oral question time at the Storting Former Fisheries and Oceans Minister BjørnarSkjæran (Ap) during a previous oral question time at the Storting. (Hanna Johre/NTB)

– Never in doubt

Moflag says that she thought about it carefully, but that she was never in doubt when she was asked to take over the leadership of the finance committee. She is fully aware that this is a prestigious position, but also that it will require a lot of hard work, and as I said: There will be no time for any training. Already in a month’s time, the committee must begin to land a revised national budget.

– This is an important task for the party, which requires a good overview and a lot of work. After all, it is in this committee that the national budget is negotiated. It is extremely important for us to realize our policy and land a good majority together with SV, says Moflag to Dagsavisen, and adds:

– I greatly appreciate the trust I have received.

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Not concerned with titles

In the past, there has been a lot of fuss about the role of fiscal policy spokesperson in Ap. Among other things, it caused a stir when the then spokesperson Marianne Marthinsen had to give way to Trond Giske after the general election in 2017. The role is otherwise seen as a stepping stone for possible cabinet posts later. Bjørnar Skjæran, on the other hand, is a former minister and deputy leader, who lost both positions last year following reshuffles in the government and party leadership. In connection with the Huitfeldt reshuffle, Skjæran is now being moved from his position as a rank-and-file member in the finance committee to become faction leader in the labor and social committee.

– Do you feel like a small promotion?

– You know, I’ve never been concerned with such things. In Ap, you take on the tasks you are asked to solve, says Skjæran to Dagsavisen.

– I have never made any political career plans. I have been a minister, deputy leader of Ap, county leader for many years and I have been mayor, but I have never been concerned with those titles. I think that now I am the one who will be responsible for leading a faction. I take that seriously, and I think it will go very well, says Skjæran.

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– Absolutely brilliant

Although he has previously been most profiled as a business politician, such as when he was Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in the period 2021-2023, Skjæran does not agree that working life policy and social policy will be completely new pastures for him.

– The areas I have been most involved in politically at national level have been about transport policy, business policy and working life policy. I have always been concerned with working life issues, and I said quite often when I was a minister and deputy leader that in Jonas Gahr Støre’s government, all AP ministers should be labor ministers in their field, says Skjæran.

– As Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, I dealt with issues related to working conditions and harassment, so working life issues have always been important to me. Work for everyone, having safe and proper working conditions and having a good safety net for those who cannot work, that has always been job number one for Labor, emphasizes Skjæran.

– To be given responsibility for leading the work on this in our parliamentary group, I think that is absolutely brilliant. I can’t wait to get started, he says, who is looking forward to getting the government’s report to the Storting on labor market policy through the Storting. It is scheduled to arrive during this spring.

– At the same time I have to admit that I have enjoyed myself very much in the finance committee, says Skjæran.

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