Johan Sverdrup - Forming The Alliance

Forming The Alliance

In 1870 Ueland died, and the loose leadership of the alliance of peasants went over to Søren Jaabæk, an economically extremely conservative politician, whose views hardly exceeded the most primitive cutting of every part of the budget, even if the money in question would be used to the furthering of democracy and education, two of his most important topics. Such a negative policy-making (Jaabæk's name was changed by the Ministerial adherents and press to Neibæk after the Norwegian word Nei, which means no, while Ja means Yes) will never produce great results, which Sverdrup clearly foresaw. He didn't hesitate to acknowledge Jaabæk as the formal leader and organizer of this budding party, which can be named the peasant friends after the organization and magazine that Jaabæk managed to spread throughout most of the country. But in parliament Jaabæk would often bow to Sverdrup's more advanced political strategies, when they were not too expensive.

In 1869 a political reform of the greatest importance was introduced, yearly parliamentary sessions instead of the earlier triannual sessions. This definitely tipped the scale of political influence in favor of the Storting, and it is not easy to see the reasons for the King's acceptance of this reform. The major reason was probably the growing necessity to get updated budgets, which was naturally the Storting's task to provide.

During the 60s, the views towards the ministers' participation in the parliamentary sessions had changed totally. The ministerials, as they were called, were now univocally against, because they had seen the formation of the peasants' friends as a threat to what they deemed to be the ideal, the totally independent representative. The peasants and the radicals on the other hand, had drawn the obviously correct conclusion that this reform would further the influence of the elected towards the appointed ministers.

The Storting in 1870 passed a change in the constitution which granted the ministers admission to Parliament when asked, but the King refused to sanction the law, stating that it was premature so few years after the yearly-sessions-reform. In 1872 the new king, Oscar II, decided that Norway, in its precarious situation with the Council mostly convening in the capital, Christiania (presently Oslo), while the king mostly lived in Sweden's capital Stockholm needed two Prime Ministers, one in each capital. Until then there had only been one in Stockholm, because the Council in Christiania was supposed to be led by an appointed governor, a position which had been vacant for 15 years because no Swedish king had dared or wished to appoint a new governor.

This made an extremely minor change in the suggested change in the constitution, when it was passed in 1873, necessary, namely that there were now two Prime Ministers, while there was only one in the previous law text. The changed constitution was not sanctioned this time either. The same happened in 1876 and 1879, and now a major problem had occurred, which made Norwegian politics extremely difficult for several years. The Constitution explicitly stated that the king had a veto three times in law and budget matters, but there was no mention of any kind of veto concerning constitutional matters.

This omission gave way to three possibilities:

1. The king had no veto at all
2. The king had an absolute veto
3. The king had the same veto rights as in all other matters

The opposition which made up a vast majority, had practically rejected the first possibility and decided upon the third, whereas the Council and the minority of the Storting was certain of the king's absolute veto.