Oslo's municipal election is less than a year away, and the parties are already deciding which politicians they want to put forward for the capital's most powerful posts. According to NRK, the Conservatives moved first, nominating their candidates for city government leader and mayor back in June.
The party is seeking re-election for city government leader Eirik Lae Solberg and mayor Anne Lindboe, and it wants to keep the centre-right in charge of the city. NRK reports that no party other than the Conservatives and Labour has so far positioned itself to name a contender for either of those two roles.
On the Labour side, Abdullah Alsabeehg has been proposed as mayoral candidate by his local branch, Holmlia Labour Party. He told NRK that few tasks are more meaningful than being mayor of what he called the world's finest city, and that he is ready and motivated if the party's members want him.
Alsabeehg has sat on the city council since 2011 and served as deputy mayor from 2021 to 2023. He said his path from the asylum reception centre at Klemetsrud to Oslo City Hall had been a long one, and that he wants his daughters to grow up in a city that is even better and more inclusive than the one he grew up in. He said he would work for a generous and inclusive city where everyone can take part in democracy and live freely.
Why it matters
The vote will determine who holds what NRK describes as perhaps the most important positions in local government in Norway. Oslo is the country's capital and largest city, so the outcome carries weight beyond its own borders, and the campaign is already setting the terms of that debate.
The race also matters because of how the two main blocs are structuring their tickets. Labour's nomination committee will present its first draft list shortly, and the party's rules mean Alsabeehg could only run as part of a pair with Marthe Scharning Lund, or another woman. If Usman Mushtaq becomes Labour's candidate for city government leader, he would likewise need a woman as mayoral candidate. Oslo Labour Society did not put forward anyone for the mayor's office when it named Mushtaq as its top list candidate.
Mushtaq, a state secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care Services and a former social services commissioner, told NRK that it is now up to the nomination committee to assemble a strong team for Oslo, adding that the party must win the city back. He said he was very pleased to have been put forward as his local branch's first candidate to work toward that goal. NRK asked him whether he had any thoughts on who should be the mayoral candidate if he becomes the city government leader candidate.
A different approach from SV and the Progress Party
The Socialist Left has taken a different route. Marianne Borgen served as a respected and popular mayor through eight red-green years from 2015 to 2023. The party's nomination committee recently put forward a preliminary list with party veteran Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås as a returning figure and top candidate.
Nora Fjelddalen, who leads the committee, told NRK that the party has sent out a list of candidates and believes that the distribution of city government posts and the mayor's office should form part of negotiations after a possible election victory. Asked whether a mayoral candidate would have been natural after Borgen's eight years in the role, Fjelddalen said she thinks everyone in SV is proud of the job Borgen did, but that this does not mean the party is locked into that position in future cooperation.
Oslo's Green Party has also fielded a mayoral candidate in each of the last two elections. NRK reports that there is none on the list finalised at its nomination meeting in September.
The Progress Party, on the other side of the political centre line, is described by NRK as having momentum. But when its final list proposal was sent out on Wednesday, it was made clear that the party will not choose either a city government leader candidate or a mayoral candidate. Pål Arne Davidsen, who chairs the nomination committee, said the decision is not about a lack of interest in responsibility or posts, but about the fact that this has to be assessed in light of the election result and any negotiations that follow it. He added that it would be natural for the largest party in any centre-right constellation to hold the city government leader post.
What to watch
Labour's nomination committee will present its first list proposal in the near future, and that document should clarify how the party intends to pair its candidates for the city's two top offices.
