Sylvi Listhaug

From RationalWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
FrP official photo.
Oh no, they're talking about
Politics
Icon politics.svg
Theory
Practice
Philosophies
Terms
As usual
Country sections
United States politics British politics Canadian politics Chinese politics French politics Indian politics Iranian politics Israeli politics Japanese politics South Korean politics

Sylvi Listhaug (b. December 25th, 1977, Ålesund, Møre og Romsdal) is a Norwegian politician and the current party leader of Progress Party (FrP). She was an alternate representative in the Storting (Parliament) before being elected a full representative in 2017 for the area in which she was born.[1]

Controversies[edit]

In 2017, Listhaug spoke at the Christian right-wing Oslo Symposium, an assembly not so much of Christlike do-gooders as homophobes, anti-abortion activists, and Islamophobes.[2]

After a short time in the position, Listhaug was forced to quit as justice minister[3] when faced with a non-confidence motion after her already staunch anti-immigration position ventured into a combination of Islamophobia and horrible taste. The vote was occasioned by a Facebook post that accused Arbeiderpartiet (The Labour Party), whose youth wing had been the target of Anders Behring Breivik's terrorist attack, of coddling Islamists.[4] The post contained an image with armed Islamists, echoing far-right Eurabia memes then circulating in Norway – a nod that would be immediately obvious to the intended audience.[5] The caption of the meme read, as translated into English, "The Labour Party thinks the rights of terrorists are more important than the nation's security. Like and share."[6] Listhaug posted this the very day a film on the Breivik killings hit Norwegian cinemas.[7] Had she not resigned, the coalition government likely would have fallen.

Listhaug had previously been involved in a range of smaller brouhahas, including a statement that Jesus would have opposed Norway's acceptance of immigration from the Near East, the region he was, if anywhere, from;[8] and several attacks against fellow right-wing coalition partner the Kristelig Folkeparti (Christian People's Party) and its leader Knut Arild Hareide.[9]

Listhaug, in a press conference, called the complaints leading to her stepping down a "real witch hunt,"[10] echoing the language of Donald Trump, and issued a somewhat hollow-sounding apology that likely differed from the official version she had agreed on with prime minister Erna Solberg.[11] Rather than this ruining her career, though, Listhaug became deputy leader of Fremskrittspartiet in 2018.[12]

In 2019, as new minister of health, she promptly suggested Norwegians drink, eat red meat and smoke as much as they saw fit.[13]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Olav Garvik and Knut Are Tvedt, "Sylvi Listhaug," Store norske leksikon ("Big Norwegian Lexicon"), updated September 3, 2018. Accessed April 9, 2019.
  2. Jarl Wåge, «Jesus var ikke på Oslo symposium» ("Jesus was not at the Oslo Symposium," Dagbladet, March 6th, 2017. Accessed June 13th, 2019.
  3. "Sylvi Listhaug resigns as Norway's justice minister," The Local, March 20th, 2018. Accessed May 15th, 2019
  4. Henley, Jon. "Norwegian minister faces no-confidence vote after terrorism post." The Guardian, March 19th, 2018. Accessed May 15th, 2019.
  5. Asbjørn Dyrendal and Terje Emberland, Hva er konspirasjonsteorier ("What are conspiracy theories?"). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2019, pp. 66-67.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20190702034454/https://twitter.com/BTHansen/status/972128126997286914
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20190503224300/https://www.facebook.com/jonasgahrstore/posts/10156382008469238
  8. "'Jesus would back us on asylum': Norway minister," The Local, November 4th, 2015
  9. NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), «Her er syv skandaler Hareide og KrF har tilgitt Listhaug og Frp» ("Here are seven scandals Hareide and the Christian People's Party have forgiven Listhaug and the Progress Party for")
  10. «Listhaug møtte pressen: - Det har vært en heksejakt» ("Listhaug meets the press: It has been a witch hunt"), Dagbladet YouTube channel, posted March 20th, 2018. Accessed June 13th, 2019.
  11. Hibba Sarmadawy, Frank Ertesvåg, et al. «Vil ikke svare på om Listhaug trosset Erna og endret på unnskyldningen» ("Doesn't want to answer whether Listhaug defied Erna and changed the apology"). Verdens Gang, March 15, 2018. Accessed July 12, 2019.
  12. Linn Blomkvist and Line Tomter, «Sylvi Listhaug konstituert som nestleder i Frp» ("Sylvi Listhaug made deputy leader in Fremskrittspartiet"). NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), September 3, 2018. Accessed July 10, 2019. In Norwegian.
  13. NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), «Listhaug blåser i <moralpolitiet>: – La folk røyke, drikke og spise rødt kjøtt» ("Listhaug scoffs at the 'morality police': Let people smoke, drink and eat red meat"