Norwegian government faces no confidence vote after minister's FB post

FILE - In this May 16, 2012, file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm that worked for President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, over allegations that it held onto improperly obtained user data after telling Facebook it had deleted the information. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - In this May 16, 2012, file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm that worked for President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, over allegations that it held onto improperly obtained user data after telling Facebook it had deleted the information. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Published Mar 19, 2018

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Stockholm - Norway's centre-right minority government is

hanging in the balance ahead of a looming confidence vote on Tuesday,

called by the opposition in the wake of a controversial Facebook post

by the justice minister.

Sylvi Listhaug of the right-wing populist Progress Party has been

under fire over the March 9 entry, in which she wrote that the

opposition Labour Party was more interested in protecting the rights

of terrorists than Norway's security.

The post, illustrated with a photo of the al-Shabaab terrorist

militia, was made amid her criticism that opposition parties opposed

a proposal to strip foreign fighters of their Norwegian citizenship

without a court hearing.

The reference to the Labour Party was considered controversial in

light of the 2011 attack on a Labour Party youth wing camp, which

claimed 69 lives. The assailant was Norwegian right-wing extremist

Anders Behring Breivik.

Listhaug apologized to parliament on Thursday and removed the entry,

but critics questioned whether she was sincere.

Parliament censored her the same day, but the crisis did not

dissipate as the small leftist Red Party then called for a confidence

vote. Other opposition parties, including the Labour Party, supported

the move.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg declined to comment on Monday, but noted

that the government had apologized last week, news agency NTB

reported.

The centrist Christian Democrats have the swing vote. Party leaders

met Monday to determine their stance.

The Norwegian constitution does not have a provision to dissolve the

169-seat legislature between elections, so the parties would have to

find a new combination to form a government. Elections are not due

until 2021.

DPA

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