Dag Terje Andersen was the president of the Storting in the 2009–2013 election period. Here he is on the presidential balcony that is installed at the Storting building every 17 Ma . Credit: C. Hill, 2010
The Stortingspresident (lit.'President of the Storting') is a member of the Storting who is elected to lead the work of the parliament of Norway. The president has five numbered vice presidents which constitute the Storting's Presidency, which prepares the schedule plan, sets the legislative agenda, distributes matters, and chairs parliamentary meetings.
The presidency is elected for one year (one Storting) at a time when the Storting convenes in the autumn. However, it is common in recent times for the same people to be elected each of the four years of a Storting term. The presidency normally reflects the relative strength of the parties and is usually elected from among the Storting's most experienced representatives, often in their last term(s). The president of the Storting has no special authority under the Constitution of Norway.
Although the president has full rights as a member of the Storting, the sitting president often does not participate in day-to-day politics. The president is exempt from being a member of any of the Storting's standing committees[no]. According to the Court Attendance Regulations of 1993, the president of the Storting, together with the prime minister of Norway, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Norway, the deputy president of the Storting and the members of the government, shall attend and have a seat (aisle and seat) after the Norwegian royal family and other royals at official ceremonies and parties at the court.
The presidency of the Storting consists of the president of the Storting and five vice-presidents in numerical order since 2009. The first vice-president is the deputy chairman of the presidency. Until 2009, the presidency consisted of the presidents and vice-presidents of the Storting, the Lagting[no] and the Odelsting[no].[citation needed]
The presidents are elected under Section 73 of the Constitution. The election is held individually as a majority vote. The president therefore usually comes from the largest party in the Storting, while it is the practice that the rest of the presidency is distributed among the parties so that the composition of the Storting as a whole is represented in the presidency. The elections take place when the Storting is constituted each autumn, but it is convention for the presidents to be re-elected throughout the entire Storting period.[citation needed]
The presidency is almost like a board of directors for the Storting – without the right to make political decisions. It is assisted by the director of the Storting. According to Section 4 of the Storting’s Rules of Procedure[no], in addition to the six presidents, a secretary and a deputy secretary are also elected, but these do have any significant functions and the positions are perceived as archaic.[citation needed]
Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl was the first female president of the Storting, from 1993 to 2001. In 2018, Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen became the second. In matters considered controversial, whether they concern the operation of the Storting or are political matters, the presidency summons the political party group leaders for consultations. The Storting may also elect a temporary president or acting president from day to day or case to case.[citation needed]
Duties
The Presidency sets the agenda of the Storting. In turn, the presidents chair the Storting's meetings and in this context propose speaking times and voting orders. The presidency also has a responsibility to ensure that the Storting's consideration of matters is carried out in accordance with constitutional rules, both in plenary and in committees. In connection with chairing the meeting, the president also has an unwritten task of ensuring that representatives dress appropriately in the Storting chamber and that they do not use "unparliamentary language". The president presiding over the meeting has a casting vote in the event of a tie during the Storting's votes, but this rarely has any practical political significance.[citation needed]
The president of the Storting (possibly with assistance from the vice-presidents) has several representative duties, both ceremonial and as host to visiting foreign parliamentary delegations. The president of the Storting is exempt from being a member of any of the Storting's standing committees[no].[citation needed]
In the event of a change of government, the king shall seek advice from the outgoing prime minister on who should be appointed as the new head of government. However, the king may also seek advice from the president of the Storting and, if appropriate, the parliamentary leaders.[citation needed]
History
In the earliest days of the Storting, when the institutions were young, and as long as the king had real political power, the most important task of the Storting president was to maintain contact between the Storting and the king. As a result of this key position, there was both scepticism in the Storting that the Storting president would become too powerful, and fear that the king would “infiltrate the Storting via the presidency”. The solution was first to replace the president every eight days, and from 1821 to elect up to six representatives who would take turns in the presidency.[citation needed]
During the constitutional disputes[no] of the 1870s and 1880s, the Radical majority used to occupy all positions in the presidency, as part of their rivalry with the king. The practice of the largest party in the Storting holding all the seats in the presidency ended in the period 1900–1903, and from 1906 onwards, the positions in the presidency have been distributed proportionally between the parties. After 1945, the presidency has mostly been composed of senior, widely respected representatives. In the interwar period, the parliamentary leaders of the parties often sat in the presidency.[citation needed]
A special event in the history of the Storting is the Elverum Power of Attorney of 10 April 1940, when the Storting met at the Elverum Folk High School[no]. The then president of the Storting, C. J. Hambro, put forward the proposal that gave the government the necessary authority to lead the country "until the time comes when the Government and the Presidency of the Storting, after a conference, convene the Storting for the next ordinary meeting".[citation needed]
The president of the Storting's gavel is made of walnut wood from the estate of George Washington in Virginia, and was put into use in May 1949. It was a gift from the Norwegian-American engineer Thomas Gillebo, who was the son of Ole Torgersen Gillebo[no], a member of the Storting from Oppland 1903–1906. The gavel bears the following inscription: "To the President of the Norwegian Parliament. God bless the land and people of Norway".[citation needed]
Previously, the president of the Storting had the authority to take "such measures concerning the internal affairs of the Storting as may be necessary" during periods when the Storting is not in session, but this emergency authority has been removed from the Rules of Procedure in force as of 2011.[citation needed]
1880–1882: Johannes Steen, Johan Sverdrup, Bernhard L. Essendrop
1882: Johannes Steen
1884–1945
Carl Berner was President of the Storting during the dissolution of the union, here from the presidential seat.C.J. Hambro was President of the Storting for 20 years, 1925–1945, and was also the architect behind the Elverum Authorization in 1940.
Bjørnstad, Karl. "Presidenter i Stortinget, Odelstinget og Lagtinget 1814–1964". In Hambro, C.J., Worm-Müller, Jacob S., Bjørnstad, Karl og Steen, Sverre (ed.). Det Norske Storting gjennom 150 år. Vol.4. Oslo: I kommisjon hos Gyldendal. p.507–564.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
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