Per Sandberg

Per Sandberg
Member of Parliament
for Nord-Trøndelag
In office
15 September 1997 – 12 September 2005
Member of Parliament
for Sør-Trøndelag
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 September 2005
Personal details
Born 6 February 1960 (1960-02-06) (age 52)
Levanger, Norway
Nationality Norwegian
Political party Progress Party
Occupation Politician

Per Sandberg (born 6 February 1960) is a Norwegian politician, currently Member of Parliament and deputy leader for the Progress Party.

Contents

Early and personal life

Sandberg was born in Levanger, Nord-Trøndelag to self-employed Rolf Sandberg (born 1926) and part-time worker Rannveig Ertsås (1930–2006). He has held numerous different jobs, and was notably in service of the UN in Lebanon in 1986.[1]

Political career

Sandberg modestly started his career in the Progress Party after contesting the municipal elections of 1987 as a mere "list fill".[2] He has later held numerous political offices. He was a member of the Nord-Trøndelag county council from 1995 to 1997, until being elected MP for the same county from 1997 to 2005. Since 2005 he has been an MP for the neighbouring county of Sør-Trøndelag. He has been vice leader of the Progress Party since 2006, and since 2009 the Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice.[1]

Political views

Law and order

Sandberg has been highly critical of newer prisons such as Halden fengsel, which he claims to have "hotel-standard", this according to him being a mockery against most people. He has also been critical of the fact that the prison have better facilities than most public nursing homes and child protection institutions.[3] In addition he has claimed that criminal foreigners and Eastern European gangs "laugh" at the Norwegian prison conditions.[4]

Immigration

In 1999 Sandberg proposed that the government should be able to expel foreigners from Norway if their children committed serious crimes,[5] and in 2002 proposed a full stop of immigration from countries outside the Schengen Area.[6]

In 2003 he proposed to introduce electronic tags on asylum seekers to stop them from escaping while their asylum application is processed.[5] He has also feared the growth of muslims in Norway, and claimed that certain areas could eventually be subdued to Sharia law.[7]

Other

In 2007 Sandberg claimed Al Gore of being "a big fraud", a "Christian-fundamentalist" and "super-capitalist who have earned over 600 million NOK on the climate cause".[8]

Controversies

He made headlines when in January 1997 he headbutted and punched an asylum seeker from Yugoslavia in the face after the latter had called him "pale-white, fat and rich" and "racist".[9] Sandberg was fined 3,000 NOK.[5]

In mid-autumn 2006, Sandberg, who is his party's spokesman for transport, was caught driving at a speed of 100 km/h in a 60 km/h zone i Målselv in Troms fylke, for which he got a suspended sentence of 21 days, lost his driver's license for eight months and was fined NOK 9,000.[10]

On 12 December 2006 he addressed the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget) having consumed three shots of Akvavit and a beer.[11] The president of the parliament, Thorbjørn Jagland, said that "to address parliament under the influence of alcohol is something one just does not do. It has got to do with respect for parliament and for one self". The Progress Party leader Siv Jensen expressed her satisfaction with her deputy's speech, but anonymous members of the parliament were critical of Sandberg.

In February 2008, Sandberg was physically assaulted by being gripped by the troath and kicked by a man outside the Norwegian parliament. He managed to escape as Socialist Left politician Hallgeir Langeland happened to be nearby and came to his rescue.[12] In July the same man, who had psychic problems and had been given residence permit in Norway on humanitarian grounds, also punched down Labour Party politician Knut Storberget.[13]

In November 2011, in a heated session in parliament, Sandberg accused the labour party of exploiting the Utøya massacre. This caused some labour party members to weep, others to leave the session, and quite some criticism on social medias and in the news[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sandberg, Per ( 1960- )". Stortinget.no. http://www.stortinget.no/no/Representanter-og-komiteer/Representantene/Representantfordeling/Representant/?perid=PES. 
  2. ^ Agerlie, Kristin (17 June 2006). "Tilfeldig at det blei Frp". NRK. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nrk_trondelag/valg_2009_trondelag/1.6656185. 
  3. ^ Kristoffersen, Randi; Kvalvik, Victoria (11 February 2010). "Per Sandberg langer ut mot det nye fengselet i Halden". Fredriksstad Blad. http://www.f-b.no/nyheter/per-sandberg-langer-ut-mot-det-nye-fengselet-i-halden-1.3376100. 
  4. ^ Staude (24 August 2009). "Hissig debatt bak murenefirst=Tone". NRK. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/innenriks/valg/valg_2009/1.6744800. 
  5. ^ a b c Raja, Abid Q. (5 May 2006). "Per Sandberg, en bleik, feit riking?". Morgenbladet. http://www.morgenbladet.no/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/OSPALTISTER/105050024. 
  6. ^ "- Kun vestlige innvandrere". Dagbladet. 29 November 2002. http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2002/11/29/355081.html. 
  7. ^ "Frp: – Uten oss får Norge sharialover". VG Nett. 2 May 2006. http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/norsk-politikk/artikkel.php?artid=303934. 
  8. ^ "- Al Gore er en bløffmaker og kristen- fundamentalist". Dagbladet. 31 December 2007. http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2007/12/31/522528.html. 
  9. ^ Midtbø, Mia Kristin (14 December 2006). "Sandbergs tidligere tabber". Adressa. http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/innenriks/article771568.ece. 
  10. ^ Stenersen, Robin (29 November 2006). "Per Sandberg mistet lappen". VG Nett. http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=169518. 
  11. ^ Heyerdahl, Nicoloi (14 December 2006). "Drakk tre akevitt før han talte i Stortinget". Aftenposten. http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/politikk/article1569623.ece. 
  12. ^ Strømsheim, Gro Wold (18 April 2008). "- Vi kan ikke la oss knekke av trusler". Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2008/04/18/532900.html. 
  13. ^ Tvedten, Hilde Marie (12 July 2008). "Storberget slått og sparket på åpen gate". Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2008/07/12/540650.html. 
  14. ^ http://stavrum.nettavisen.no/?p=3876