Stoltenberg fends off harsh criticism
One of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's former cabinet ministers in an earlier government he led has unleashed a political broadside against her former boss. Karita Bekkemellem has written a book accusing Stoltenberg of being cowardly, weak and a poor leader. He merely wishes her well.
One of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's former cabinet ministers in an earlier government he led has unleashed a political broadside against her former boss. Karita Bekkemellem has written a book accusing Stoltenberg of being cowardly, weak and a poor leader. He merely wishes her well.
Karita Bekkemellem attracted attention as a government minister and she's doing so again with her new book. PHOTO: Vågå Kommune
Her new autobiography, released this week, traces her life from a troubled childhood with an alcoholic father to her days in fancy dresses attending banquets at the Royal Palace during her political career. Bekkemellem spent five terms as a Member of Parliament for Labour from the county of Møre og Romsdal and served in three ministerial posts.
It all came to an abrupt halt in October 2007 when she was replaced as cabinet minister. According to Bekkemellem, she didn't receive any clear messages from Stoltenberg who instead dragged out a period of uncertainty regarding her post until he finally sent a state secretary to her office with word of her fate.
"He used a messenger," Bekkemellem writes. "I thought it was ridiculous, cowardly and weak." She also accused Stoltenberg of being distant during crisis situations, and cowardly then as well.
Labour Party boss and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg merely wishes Bekkemellem well. PHOTO: AP
"Jens Stoltenberg is a warm person, but he doesn't always manage to show it," she wrote. "Even though he'd like to be a good boss, he is easily unclear and distant."
Bekkemellem, who now heads an industry trade group and appears on a local TV talk show, also accused other Labour Party colleagues of being envious and nurturing a culture where people talked behind other's backs. She said she often received warmer welcomes at Parliament from politicians in other parties than from her own. She claimed the new deputy leader of the party, Helga Pedersen, refused to greet her, something Pedersen denies.
Bekkemellem, who also writes candidly that she received death threats during her political career and once tried to take her own life, has herself been the target of criticism over her book. A string of political pundits suggests she should have kept her own criticism to herself, instead of hurling out a bunch of sour grapes now.
Stoltenberg wasn't eager to comment on the book, nor to go into the reasons he had for dismissing Bekkemellem two years ago. He did say, however, that Bekkemellem had given him a copy of her book and that he intended to read it.
"I don't want to take part in any debate over internal processes in the Labour Party or the government," he told newspaper Aftenposten. "But I do want to say that Karita has given a lot to Norwegian politics and I wish her all the best."
(Story written October 30, 2009)
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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