Disgraced politician withdraws from Parliament – Leaders from the minority groups unable to make it in Norway
Posted by African Press International on October 11, 2008
Before the parliamentarian fell, others have fallen before her. There was the black first woman minister who lied and was kicked out. Do they not understand the Norwegian way of running things?
The political career of one of Norway’s rare MPs from an ethnic minority remained in jeopardy Friday, after she was caught running up huge phone bills by calling clairvoyants for advice, also on political matters.
Saera Khan, who represented the Labour Party, has withdrawn from parliamentary positions and is now on sick leave. PHOTO: LINDA NÆSFELDT |
Saera Khan, who went on sick leave after admitting to the reason for her high phone bills, withdrew her name late Thursday from her party’s list of candidates for the Parliament next year, and from other duties. That means she won’t seek re-election.
Khan has represented the Labour Party and was considered a rising star, possibly even a candidate for cabinet minister.
Instead she’s in disgrace, with party elders saying they’re “very disappointed” in Khan, not least because she initially lied about the phone calls.
The matter hit the news after parliament officials refused to pay the huge phone bills Khan had submitted. At first, she claimed the bills were the result of long-distance calls to a boyfriend allegedly serving with Norway’s troops in Afghanistan.
She ultimately admitted the calls to clairvoyants, and newspaper VG reported Friday that the advice she sought at taxpayer expense didn’t only involve personal matters. Instead, some of the clairvoyants told VG that Khan asked about whether the opposition Progress Party would win government power next year, how Labour would perform in next year’s election and whether she’d win another seat in Parliament.
In a country with a princess who herself has claimed clairvoyant powers, Khan’s unconventional advice-seeking may have been tolerated. But as another high-profile non-Norwegian, Professor Nina Witoszek, told newspaper Aftenposten, lying is rarely if ever tolerated.
“In Norway it’s unacceptable to lie,” Witoszek said. “The Protestant ethic is in effect, as is the thinking of old rural cultures.”
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API/Source.aftenposteneng
