SPEECH FOR THE 17th MAY IN HELLEVIK 2002
By Karl-Jan Erstad, Folkestad

Honoured fellow citizens: "Constitutional Day Congratulations"

At first a citation of Storm P. (Denmark): "I certainly have my opinion, and that I keep for myself."
It is an honour and an act of confidence to be asked to speech for the Constitutional Day, and to be dedicated a speaker’s platform where I can sign for it by a subtlety: "In case silence were gold, I were broke."

The fantastic character of our Norwegian National Day is the unification of all people, all social groups, children and adults. We have a real public rejoicing. Everyone shall feel confident at the celebration, participate actively, it renders us identity and a national feeling.
The Constitution gave us foothold for a national and political struggle. It is described very well in the work of the historian Sverre Steen about 1814: "Slowly the country became our own."

There are few countries with a constitution as old as the Norwegian. The really old tradition with political continuity we find in England, with its famous Magna Charta, with a gradual development towards parliamentarism, without revolutions. Ourselves we build on the fundaments from the American Revolution in 1776 and the French in 1789. The dynamite underlying this development was a revolt against royal despotism, nobility and privileges for particular social classes, and these 3 main principles for change stormed as a flood through parts of Europe:

Many other countries have by intervals equipped themselves with a new constitution, and many Norwegians have asked if our Constitution has not expired. Most people advocate that the main principles are fixed, and are closely related to universal rights of citizens and humans, and thus form a basis for democracy and legal protection. It protects our country from rapid changes, in fact from coup d’etat by retarding changes in form of government.

§ 112.
If experience reveals that any part of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway must be changed, the proposal of this should be forwarded to the first, second or third Assembly following a new election and be proclaimed by print. It concerns, however, the first, second or third Assembly following another election to Parliament to decide whether or not the proposed change should be accomplished. Nevertheless, such a change should never contradict the principles of the Constitution, but solely affect modifications of certain provisions, which will not change the spirit of the Constitution, and as far as two third of the Assembly agrees upon such a change.

Many parts of the Constitution have still been changed, and we have got additions. Most well-known are the prohibitions of Jews and Jesuits, withdrawn in the second half of the 19th Century and as late as in 1954 respectively.

We have got a paragraph of intention about Nature Protection:

§110b.
Everyone has a right to an Environment which secures health and a nature in which ability of production and multiplicity are protected. The resources of nature shall be disposed according to a long-term and versatile aspect, which ensures this right also to posterity.
To protect their right in accordance with the preceding subsection, the citizens are entitled to knowledge about the state of the environment and the effects of planned and implemented operations in nature.
The State authorities settle detailed provisions to accomplish these principles.
Added by Constitutional Decision 19th June 1992 No. 463.

Do we have secured the Balance of Power in the Norwegian society, as our forefathers were concerned about 200 years ago?
The French philosopher Montesquieu of the Era of Enlightenment focused on the principle of Balance of Power: Executive, Legislative and Judicial Powers:

"All power in this assembly" was the slogan of the liberal deputy Johan Sverdrup, when Norway introduced Parliamentarism in 1884, following a long battle with the Norwegian-Swedish King: The Government then had to have confidence and be based on a majority in the Parliament, with a strong power of the politicians, beneficially or by the contrary, partly without any corrective, and it was in conflict with the Constitution. The judges shall be independent, but we know very well the politicians try to influence the composition of the courts.

The Constitution has also been politicised by its interpretation, and we have no Constitutional Court in Norway, as is the fact in Germany, seated in Karlsruhe.
The Norwegian Supreme Court has decided that changes in the Constitution can occur due to changes in society and political maturing. Many citizens are astonished that §1 in the Constitution can be refonted due to a political evaluation, without passing a Constitutional change as we had to state as a precision almost hundred years ago:

The Kingdom Norway is a free, independent, indivisible and inalienable kingdom. Its form of government is a restricted and inheritable Monarchy.
Constitutional Decision 18th Nov. 1905, ref. Decision 7th June 1905

In 3 years we face the 100 Years’ Anniversary of leaving a union with our closest neighbour people. Will we then enter the 3rd beating of a new and tearing discussion of a Union? We will come better off with ourselves to let it be. Many citizens also support the viewpoint that democracy needs proximity between rulers and ruled to work, but any clear answer is not given.

1814 is a long time ago. I would, however, not admit that it is so long time ago as it was earlier. This implies that when we have lived for a while, we think we have joined history after 1814 relatively longer than we had before.
When I was small and grew up in Ålesund, the family had the following important pegs of time as a measure: The Town Fire of 1904, perhaps mentioned together with the referendum of monarchy versus republic in 1905 (yes, in fact those other people on the island were freethinkers, not real Christians, and they voted for republic ....). And then we had the times before and after the War.
An increasing part of our population can address themselves as "We that did not experience the War," but what references do we have? There has been a steady development towards even more prosperity, and without traumatic experiences close to us.
In recent years we have twice been in war, for the good purpose, as it looks like, a little discretely, and as a part of the World Police: the war against Serbia as a consequence of Kosovo and Slobodan Milosevic, and now in the war against Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan will last for a long time, and so have we planned to be there, too. In the Revised State Budget a few days ago our Defence received 1.7 billion NOK extra. Thereof 600 millions NOK shall be used in the Norwegian warfare in Afghanistan, and as much as 394 of these millions shall be used to upgrade 4 F-16 aircrafts for precision bombing, operated from a previous Soviet base in the new country Kirgistan in Central Asia, by now under American control. The circumstances are not secret, but neither no public item.

In 1814 we had the Napoleon Wars close to us. In 1809 Russia had captured Finland from Sweden, but Sweden got a straight message from England that Sweden had to reconcile itself with Russia, and Norway should be divorced from Denmark, as soon as Napoleon was throttled and killed. Norway and Denmark came out on "the wrong side" during the War, i.e. the Napoleon Wars, interpreted to be French side. During the autumn and winter 1812 Napoleon suffered a terrible defeat following his capture of Moscow. The Russians set the city on fire, the French army froze and was without supplies, and had to start the march of death to home. Facing a weakened French emperor the small German states revolted, and after the famous Peoples’ Battle at Leipzig 1813 Napoleon definitively was never the same man again. He had to go in exile on Elba north of Corsica.

25th January 1814 the promise to Sweden was fulfilled by the Treaty of Kiel: Norway should change partner of union. Furious Norwegians started the well-know 3 months’ thriller which lead to the Constitution in Eidsvoll. Those ones who could catch up in decent time, should come. The deputies from Northern Norway could not arrive in proper time.

Norway had passed hard years. English warships had commenced an embargo at the Norwegian coast, and we all know the legend of Terje Vigen who rowed to Denmark for grain, and on his way home he was stopped, brought to England to the prison, whereas his family starved to death. In particular the year 1811 was a catastrophe, because it had been a cool summer, and the grain had not ripened in autumn. The public health had weakened, and it is proved that a number of deaths was due to famine.

We have been accustomed to the belief that we live under safe conditions, history is behind us, and the future is secured by the Oil Fund. The times can still, however, change rapidly, nature is still mightier than us, even if we believe we can twist it round our little finger. There will come warm periods, small and great glacial events, storms, perhaps even ocean floods. The coast lines are not stable, and we think today that the ocean will be at least 60 cm higher in 60 years – how much is now situated at the coastal line?
Pride goes before a fall, when we believe we should be independent of the primary production. If we ask our youth what to head for in professional life, a common answer would be: "Something or another within computers." Regrettably few will find optimism and sense in our ideals 25 years ago: "Something or another within agriculture."
No country which can not support itself with nutrition, can survive in the long run.

Freedom is a special phenomenon.
Once upon a day I visited a zoo, and came to a cage marked "The Freedom." "This was strange," I said to the keeper, "I see nothing in that cage." "No, we have observed the same, too," the keeper replied. "Each time we put it in, it disappears."

A laundry label on a piece of clothing was also a little odd: "10% wool, 90% synthetics – 0% justice, 100% deceit."
My thoughts are brought to an investigation by the OECD, showing that Norway is the most corrupt one of the Nordic countries – as we were brought up to believe that corruption belonged to South America, the Far East – and to France with a Norwegian anti-corruption leader to clear up in the offices. In our country there is some less of bubbling bathrooms and money under the table, but companionship and nepotism are widespread.
We shall not go thoroughly into the subject on a day like this, but bring the warning into our everyday life. It not only to clear off law and enactments, but also to stand upright when we face what we have done, later some time, and look into the mirror: Did we act fairly?

Today we are right to be pleased of the achievements of our nation and society, and we should look into future. On the other hand, as a French colleague said to me when visiting his country some time ago: "You should try to be happy also today. If you can not experience small and great pleasures on this day, you should not calculate that you would be happy one day in the future."

A sound national feeling is a good quality, by which we have built a nation, without disregarding other peoples. Let us celebrate our Constitution as a platform for our independence.

Congratulations with the Day!