The speaker of the Norwegian parliament announced her resignation today, as she is accused of having benefited from a service residence, which she may not have been entitled to.
The resignation of Eva Kristin Hansen of the Labor Party, one month after her election to the presidency of Storting, the Norwegian parliament, took place after the announcement by the police of the beginning of the investigation.
“I think it is unacceptable for Storting to have a president who is the target of an investigation,” Hansen told the Norwegian news agency NTB.
“Therefore, I contacted the leader of my party and informed him that I would resign from the Storting presidency,” he added.
On Tuesday, the Adresseavisen newspaper revealed that Hansen, when she was a provincial MP, continued to benefit from a service residence in Oslo after 2014, when she and her husband bought a house in Ski, 29 km from the Norwegian capital.
Regulations in force in Norway stipulate that only members of parliament living more than 40 km from Oslo are eligible for a parliamentary residence.
Hansen, who announced the change of address in 2017, said she did not understand the regulation well.
Several Norwegian lawmakers have recently been targeted for similar cases, but part of the opposition, especially the populist right, has called for Hansen to step down, citing the state as the second-highest-ranking figure behind members of the royal family. .
Oslo police announced today that they have launched an investigation to determine whether these MPs are guilty of “fraud or other breach of the law” in relation to official residences.
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