Marit Arnstad
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Marit Arnstad (born 4 May 1962) is a Norwegian lawyer and politician for the Centre Party. She is currently the party’s parliamentary leader since 2014, having previously held the office from 2003 to 2005. Arnstad was the Norwegian
Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
from 2012 to 2013 and Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 1997 to 2000.


Early and personal life

Arnstad was born in Stjørdal, and is the daughter of tax assessor and farmer Arne Arnstad and nurse Aasta Auran, and twin sister of Eli Arnstad. She is also the sister-in-law of Iwar Arnstad, and cousin of Ellen Arnstad. The Arnstad family from Arnstad vestre at Skatval has fostered several Centre Party politicians since the interwar period. She held various jobs and offices before entering politics on a national level in 1993. She also has a son, August Arnstad (born 1999).


Political career


Parliament

In 1993, she was elected to the Storting and sat as a representative for the Centre Party until 1997. In 2001 she was once again elected to the Storting, where she sat until 2005. She reasoned that she wanted to seek a job outside of politics and focus her attention on raising her son. She was nominated at the top spot on the Centre Party ballot in Nord-Trøndelag for the 2013 election, which is considered a safe seat. She was preferred for the top spot over Lars Peder Brekk who had the position in 2005. She has been mentioned as a possible future leader of the Centre Party.


Party politics

Within in the Centre Party, she notably served as its parliamentary leader from 2003 to 2005. She was re-elected to said position again in 2014 when
Trygve Slagsvold Vedum Trygve Magnus Slagsvold Vedum (born 1 December 1978) is a Norwegian politician who has served as Minister of Finance since 2021. A member of the Centre Party, which he has led since 2014, he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hedmark since ...
became party leader. Following the 2021 election, she joined party leader
Trygve Slagsvold Vedum Trygve Magnus Slagsvold Vedum (born 1 December 1978) is a Norwegian politician who has served as Minister of Finance since 2021. A member of the Centre Party, which he has led since 2014, he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hedmark since ...
with pre-government negotiations in
Hurdal Hurdal is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus in Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is t ...
that began on 23 September.


Government minister

Arnstad served as minister of petroleum and energy from 1997 to 2000 under
Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician. As leader of the Christian Democratic Party, he served as the 33rd prime minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him, af ...
. She later served as minister of transport from 2012 to 2013 under
Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...
. After the election of 2005, she was mentioned by many as a possible minister in the new government that included the Centre Party, but Arnstad did not become a minister at that time. Following the 2021 election, she was mentioned as a strong favorite to become minister of finance.


Minister of Petroleum and Energy

Following the 1997 election, she took a seat in
Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician. As leader of the Christian Democratic Party, he served as the 33rd prime minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2005, making him, af ...
's first Cabinet as Minister of Petroleum and Energy on 17 October 1997. Arnstad took parental leave in 1999 as her son was born. During this time, Anne Enger Lahnstein was acting minister. She left the post on 17 March 2000 when the government resigned over the issue of gas power stations, and was succeeded by Olav Akselsen.


Minister of Transport and Communications

Following a cabinet reshuffle on 18 June 2012, Arnstad was appointed Minister of Transport in Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet. In August 2012, Arnstad expressed concerns over a new practise that was used at the border between
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
and Sweden, where truck drivers had been stopped and told that there trucks couldn't carry more than 40 tons. She wrote to the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd with these concerns. Elmsäter-Svärd stressed the importance of continued transport over the border, but didn't comment on the case Arnstad was referring to. In October, Arnstad expressed that the new Follo rail line would be a demanding project after the cost of it increased to 23,5 billion NOK. In addition she believed that the costs wouldn't surpass 23,5 billion NOK, and added that it shouldn't sink below it either. She further expressed confidence that the line would eventually be built. In December, Arnstad expressed that high-speed rail was not a priority, saying that other tasks within transportation was more important. She did however support the importance of railway transport. In February 2013, Arnstad sent a letter to the
Norwegian Public Roads Administration The Norwegian Public Roads Administration ( no, Statens vegvesen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road netw ...
to change the definition of mopeds in the law regarding motorcycles and mopeds, to include bikes with start-up engines, thereby making them legal. Arnstad took this action after '' VG'' reported that the
Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV, originally an abbreviation of ''Nye arbeids- og velferdsetaten'') is the current Norwegian public welfare agency, which consists of the state Labour and Welfare Service as well as municipal ...
(NAV) had ordred around 2700 disabled people to park the bikes they had been given by them. In late February, she promised improvements to soil protection, and said it would be a central part in the then upcoming National Transportation Plan that would be presented in autumn. This was also noted as an increase from the original protection sought by her predecessor,
Liv Signe Navarsete Liv Signe Navarsete (born 23 October 1958 in Sogndal) is a Norwegian politician from the Centre Party. She has served as county governor of Vestland county since 2022. She previously served as Minister of Local Government from 2009 to 2013, Min ...
. In late March, she caused controversy when she tweeted a response to another user, ending in ''f'***k Oslo''. When confronted with the tweet, Arnstad added that she had only meant to express that it was nice to be back home in
Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...
, and stated that she loved Oslo, but that at the time she didn't want to be there at work. Arnstad expressed uncertainty regarding the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
's
Single European Railway Directive 2012 The Single European Railway Directive 2012''2012/34/EUis an EU Directive that regulates railway networks in European Union law. This recast the "First Railway Directive" or "Package" from 1991, and allows open access operations on railway lines ...
when it was brought to the Storting in August 2013, and a majority of members expressed support for it. Both she and Trygve Slagsvold Vedum expressed that they didn't want Norwegian railways to be exposed to competition. Arnstad also added that the question was hypothetical, and if it was not possible to change the directive, she would also support to veto it. However, she added that it was to early to tell if it was the right way to go. In early October, she opened the new European route E6 in Stjørdal.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnstad, Marit 1962 births Living people Centre Party (Norway) politicians People from Stjørdal Members of the Storting Women members of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian lawyers Ministers of Transport and Communications of Norway Petroleum and energy ministers of Norway Norwegian women lawyers 21st-century Norwegian politicians 21st-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Women government ministers of Norway