Time for some new listening posts
There could have been a mood-voted gathering of Ap politicians at the national meeting this weekend, but the upswing in the polls does something about the mood and self-confidence.
It may not be so stupid to get a party secretary from the north either. Then they might get pure words for money on broad Senja dialect, instead of dry talk.
Former Harstad Mayor Kari-Anne Opsal has announced to NTB that she feared that she was too northern for the role of the Labor Party’s new party secretary, a notorious position of power that should perhaps be used more for party building than strategy games.
It says a lot that she thinks that way, but on Thursday night she got the job. Of course, the profitable hope for Ap politicians in the north is that it does something about the ability to communicate, the one who tends to fully weather in party speeches on the rounds.
In our opinion, a lack of breadth in the listening posts has been obvious, and it was on the border of catastrophic when the government’s power promise was picked up by the amazement bag a month before the election campaign in 2023.
It was arrogant and little thought out. The party’s local politicians and mayoral candidates were taken to bed and got to taste the anger in many municipalities. Without the ability to communicate, such plays act as ambush attacks.
Opsal has the ambition to be a team builder. It is wise, but the team itself must also have the same thought when the political workshop is put together. The board should be more from the north, including to emphasize that Finnmark is a geopolitical center in these times.
Opsal may have other listening posts, for example in Finnmark’s largest city. Here she has had close contact with Monica Nielsen, including in the O6 where the six largest municipalities in the region talk together.
We need someone who is actually listening to the health policy frustration in Alta, but also some who bother to investigate why 70 per cent of Finnmark residents fear the energy welcome for business, due to electrification.
Prime Minister Terje Aasland recently made the trip north, but of course he was supposed to be here a long time ago to listen to the counterparts. It is not enough to be on a tour of Melkøya.
Maybe Kari-Anne Opsal is better at listening to the grassroots. As former president of the Bridge Association, she may be able to add the cards a little differently. For example, show them to more, so that the party democracy gets better conditions.
