(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[15. September 2006] This week is one year since the Norwegian people gave the red-green government their confidence. Lately, many have regretted it. Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen and Minister of Labor and Social Inclusion Bjarne Håkon Hanssen are the ones who must take most of the responsibility for the fact that working life organizations will have major problems in trusting agreements with the government again. But in the shadow of the sick pay scheme, it is also time to take a look at what the various ministers have accomplished when the government soon celebrates its one-year anniversary.
Minister of Children and Equality Karita Bekkemellem is a talented and passionate lady. That is not the will. Unfortunately, in the government she has been dismissed with what in the bureaucracy is called "the tiny ministry", a ribbed children's and family ministry with assumed responsibility for equality. We've seen pretty little lately. True, Bekkemelem has this summer finally got a commission for equal pay, but what we remember best is how long this took. The fact that the Gender Equality Center has been closed down and that the proposal for a gay marriage is delaying does not make the picture any better.
The real minister of gender equality in the red-green government is called Knut Storberget. The Minister of Justice has been able to make justice policy a profiled field with many issues on the agenda. He has by no means limited himself to typical gender equality issues.
We cheer the Minister of Justice at his prison tour, when he cleans up the conditions at the Trandum Immigration detention center, when he apologizes to Fritz Moen's bereaved and balances terror terror. But the Minister of Justice has made the strongest mark with a clear feminist commitment when he seizes on issues such as trafficking in women and violence against gays, and when he points out that it is not at all Norwegian women who are responsible for the strong increase in assault rape in Oslo. Knut Storberget shows a political will and execution power that we want more of.
The cowboy suit he took on for Dagbladet Magasinet he must gladly leave at home for our part. Maybe it can be replaced with some nice red socks.
