Lars Korvald

Lars Korvald (1978)

Lars Korvald (born April 29, 1916 in Mjøndalen , Drammen , Viken ; † July 4, 2006 ibid) was a Norwegian politician of the Christian People's Party , its chairman 1967–1975 and 1977–79 and Norwegian Prime Minister from 1972 to 1973.

Career

Korvald studied agricultural sciences at the Norwegian Agricultural College (now the University of Environmental and Life Sciences ) in Ås and worked from 1943–1948 as a teacher at the Tomb Agricultural School in Råde, Østfold . The school was run by the Inner Mission of the Lutheran Church ( Det norske lutherske Indremisjonsselskap , since 2001 Normisjon ). He then worked for four years as a senior employee of the Norwegian 4H organization , before returning to Tomb as rector . Since 1943 he was married to Ruth Aarny Borgersen.

He was involved in the pietistic Inner Mission and was highly valued as a lay preacher in the prayer houses . His talent for rhetoric also promoted his career as a politician.

politics

Korvald had been a member of the Christian People's Party (KrF) since 1945, but was only won over for a parliamentary candidacy in 1961. From 1961 to 1981 he sat in Storting , elected in the constituency of Østfold . As early as 1965 he rose to the chairman of the parliamentary group when his party took part in the bourgeois coalition government Borten . The government broke up in 1971 mainly because of fundamental differences of opinion in European politics. After a long period of hesitation, Korvald decided to reject Norway's entry into the EU , thus representing the majority opinion among party members and delegates. After membership was rejected in a referendum on September 25, 1972, Korvald was commissioned to form a new bourgeois government. It consisted of KrF, Zentrum and Liberals and replaced the Bratteli I government on October 18, 1972 . The Liberal Party split shortly afterwards on the European question, so that only around a third of its MPs supported the government. With just 38 of 150 MPs, the Korvald government had the weakest parliamentary foundation since the end of the war. Nevertheless, she was able to stay in office until October 16, 1973. Despite the lack of majorities, it tried to set political accents and successfully conducted negotiations that resulted in a trade agreement with the European Economic Community .

In the 1973 election , Korvald led the KrF to their best result to date. However, there was an arithmetical majority made up of Social Democrats and Socialists , so that Korvald submitted his resignation as announced for this case. From 1973 until his departure from politics in 1981, Korvald was again group leader. He resigned as party leader in 1975, but had to temporarily replace his successor Kåre Kristiansen after two years after speculation about his private life. In the 1977 Stortingswahl Korvald ran as a candidate for the office of Prime Minister, supported in it by the conservative Høyre and the Center Party. However, a bourgeois majority in parliament was narrowly missed.

In 1981 Korvald supported a party congress resolution that made the tightening of the abortion law a prerequisite for future participation by the KrF in government ("Tønsberg Decision"). The conservatives rejected this request and in 1981 initially formed a government without the KrF ( Willoch government ). It was not until 1983 that the party softened its position and entered the government. Korvald had already left parliament by this time and was a Fylkesmann in Fylke Østfold from 1981 to 1986 .

The future Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was one of Korvald's closest collaborators.

Fonts

• Lars Korvald (with Aud Kvalbein): Det best jed vet å gi videre. En bok om kristne verdier. Lunde, Oslo 1995, ISBN 82-520-3886-7 .
• Lars Korvald (with Per Øyvind Heradstveit): Politikk og kall. Lars Korvald's memoarer. Rocon, Moss 1982, ISBN 82-990440-4-9 .

Web link

• Short biography (Norwegian) website of the Storting, accessed February 3, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nils-Petter Enstad. In: Norsk biografisk leksikon. Volume 5, Oslo 2003, p. 345 f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Trygve Bratteli	Prime Minister of Norway 1972 - 1973	Trygve Bratteli