Monday, April 18, 2016

The people can torpedo the truth reform – Dagbladet.no

(Dagbladet): Within 1 July should be around 200 Norwegian municipalities allow citizens to vote on whether to enter into marriage with a neighbor, and the first polls bode ill for those who remain.

Among the 29 municipalities that have been until now a municipality got a draw, six have said yes, while 22 municipalities say no to municipal amalgamation with the neighbor.

In Bø was no-majority resounding. Here chose 80 percent to residents who voted to say no to a storkommune in Vesterålen. Thus let Conservative mayor Sture Pedersen ball dead.

– All parties said that they would follow the people said in referendum. Therefore, we instead up to a wide inter-municipal
cooperation, says the mayor.

There is still uncertainty about the new revenue system for municipalities, which critics described as so bad for some municipalities that they may be forced to merge anyway.

Bo is a of municipalities characterized as “involuntary” small in the new regime.



Reusable:

So, they seem to lose at economics approach municipal Minister Jan Tore Sanner (H), which penalizes municipalities with short distances. This clears an important incentive to merge.

– The Government has said that municipal mergers should be voluntary and that I assume that they stand for. The other mayors I know around has said that if there is a referendum, they will listen to the people, says Conservative mayor.

Parliamentary leader Marit Arnstad in the Center believes several of the municipalities that hold referendum should do as politicians in Bo – even if turnout is low.

– If do not do local politicians themselves and the communities a disservice. If the first invite citizens to say something and then not take into account that they contribute likely to increase the level of conflict in local communities, think Arnstad.

– How do you interpret that as many of the first municipalities say no?

– This means that there will be a number of municipalities that do not want to turn together, and we must respect. It’s raining I decided that both the Ministry, the counties and eventually also the Parliament will do, says Arnstad.



– Might be a problem

referendum could prove to be a solid thorn in the eye for real reform. The government discouraged initially called advisory referendums. Yet chose almost half the country’s municipalities to implement them.

Voter turnout in referendums fluctuate widely from municipality to municipality, but in some locations as low as 40 percent.

Univeristetslektor in Political Espen Leirset at Northern University supports the government in the referendum is a bad option, and taking the low turnout in individual municipalities as a sign of it.

He believes there are more folk no future.

– There is a danger that there are several that will not turn together, I would say suggests that the reform will not be successful. It is not because the need for larger municipalities are not there, but because they have chosen a political process that is unsuitable, says political scientist.

– The question Parliament should ask themselves is whether they believe the referendum is the right way for a country and arrange their administrative boundaries on.



Can backfire locally

Professor of Political Science Anders Todal Jenssen at NTNU think most local politicians will be forced to listen to the polls; if not it will turn back on themselves at the next local elections.

He is not surprised that the referenda negatively affect the reform.

– It’s no surprise that it comes much popular discontent through referenda, and that is why the government is now doing the best they can to stir local politicians to ignore the outcome of the referendum and instead say that it should be kept mysterious hearings and that, says Todal Jenssen, describing it as a political game.

– Majority

the deadline to have adopted municipal amalgamation is 1 July. Some Norwegian municipalities have already adopted married, some are still sitting around the negotiating table, and some awaiting political treatment of signed letters of intent.

Dagbladet tried before the weekend to get a comment from Minister for Local Government Jan Tore Sanner (H), but got instead of quotes from State Secretary Kristin Holm Jensen (H).

She does not answer if there is problem for reform if no trend in referenda continues. Instead she is keen to convey the necessity of reform in a time of economic restructuring in Norway – and the majority of the population wants such a reform.

“A number of surveys show a majority for a municipal form, both in population and among elected officials. Today’s municipal structure is from the 1960s, and is not adapted to today’s modern society. Many see that we must build stronger welfare municipalities for the future. Local politicians in the country take responsibility and negotiate good deals for a merger of their communities, “she writes in the email.

She is keen to stress that there are also municipalities where the population has said yes in the referendum.

“Several referendums going in a positive direction, including Sogn og Fjordane where the majority in five municipalities agreed to municipalities form. We believe citizen surveys are a good alternative to the referendum, and that such studies may provide a representative picture of what citizens actually mean. Local politicians are elected to take the final decisions, after they heard their citizens. We now see that more and more local politicians leans forward, takes responsibility and ensures stronger communities that are better equipped to meet the challenges we see ahead, “she writes in the email.

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