– Grassroots and party democracy won! This was the second time Kamzy won from the challenger position. It is something to think about, says Ivar Morken, leader of Furuset Arbeiderlag, to Dagsavisen.
He points out that Gunaratnam won an intense campaign vote also before the general election in 2021, and in any case, before the campaign vote, Morken’s team was on what we can call “Team Kamzy”, especially because he believed that the populous Groruddalen should be well represented on the Oslo bench in the Storting.
Now he is delighted that Kamzy Gunaratnam from Groruddalen on Tuesday evening won the nomination match against Hadia Tajik about second place on Oslo Ap’s nomination list. He is also pleased that Malin Bye Sørensen from Alna came in eighth place, although there is little indication that Oslo Ap will get more than three candidates into the Storting next autumn.
Støre, Gunaratnam and Vestre
The three will thus become party leader Jonas Gahr Støre, Kamzy Gunaratnam and Aps deputy leader Jan Christian Vestre. But with Gunaratnam placed so high, Morken thinks that things look good for Groruddalen in the Storting.
– We have the crew. And with good social democratic Groruddal policies, policies that even out social differences that counteract a divided Oslo, we are ready for the election campaign, says Morken to Dagsavisen.
Electric atmosphere
Before the nomination meeting, the Furuset leader was critical of the nomination committee’s list, precisely in view of the upcoming election campaign. In an interview with The daily newspaper on Monday he said that he was genuinely concerned about the election campaign next year, if they were to run without a representative from Groruddalen. He has shared this concern with several Ap teams in Groruddalen, according to the input received by the nomination committee this autumn.
Morken himself was part of the counting corps during the vote in the Oslo Arbeidersamfund’s hall on Tuesday evening, and he felt that the atmosphere was “completely electric” before they knew the outcome. 233 votes were cast, including one blank vote. Hadia Tajik got 108 votes and Gunaratnam 124 votes. The disappointment on “Team Hadia” was great, and from what Dagsavisen understands, many were also disappointed that Trine Lise Sundnes, who was seen as the trade union candidate, lost the battle for fourth place against AUF candidate Agnes Viljugrein, with 111 to 122 votes.
– On behalf of my generation, we need tougher climate policy. Our party is in crisis now, and in my nine years as an elected representative, I have changed our politics with the help of the grassroots in our party. I will continue to fight for them, Viljugrein said from the podium.
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– Wins another life
Kamzy Gunaratnam herself promised after the victory that for the next four years she will fight for Oslo and Oslo’s population with Ap’s solutions in the Storting. Hadia Tajik, for her part, stated that she now going to apply for “regular jobs” after she has finished with national politics next autumn.
– I knew before I entered this meeting that it was going to be a very even vote, and it was. Now that the Oslo Labor Party has chosen Kamzy, I will of course support the team they have chosen. I will contribute to the party making the best possible choice here in the capital, Tajik said to Dagsavisen after the vote.
– On the way in here I thought that in my heart I will win anyway. Either I win match voting or I win another life, which I will now make the most of.
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