1994 Progress Party national convention

1994 Progress Party national convention

Carl I. Hagen and Jan Simonsen; two leading members of the traditionalist (populist) faction of the party
Convention
Date(s)	15 April – 17 April
City	Bolkesjø, Telemark
Venue	Bolkesjø Turisthotell
Elected leadership
Party leader	Carl I. Hagen
Deputy leader(s)	Lodve Solholm Hans J. Røsjorde
Representatives
Delegates	156
Votes Needed for Nomination	78
Results (Party leader)	111[1]

The 1994 national convention of the Progress Party of Norway was held from 15 April to 17 April at the hotel Bolkesjø Turisthotell in Bolkesjø, Telemark. It was originally set up to be a normal convention with 157 delegates in a non-election year, but because of mounting antagonism between a traditionalist and a libertarian faction, it became clear some months before the conventions that personal positions could be at stake. The party leader seat, held by Carl I. Hagen since 1978, was up for re-election. The deputy leaders Ellen Wibe and Hans J. Røsjorde was not up for election until 1995, but there were talks about forming a motion of no confidence against Wibe. The political disagreements roughly corresponded to a cleavage between two factions.

The traditionalist (also called populist) faction was represented by party leader Carl I. Hagen, Jan Simonsen, Fridtjof Frank Gundersen, Vidar Kleppe, Øystein Hedstrøm, Lodve Solholm and Eli Hagen. The libertarians of the party were first and foremost the deputy leader Ellen Wibe and four members of Parliament (by some called the "band of four"), Ellen Christine Christiansen, Oscar D. Hillgaar, Roy N. Wetterstad and Stephen Bråthen. Buskerud county leader Geir Thoresen, Akershus county leader Per Aage Pleym Christensen and Youth of the Progress Party leader Lars Erik Grønntun were other prominent libertarians. Both during the preceding months and on the opening day, resolutions were passed which ensured full dominance for Carl I. Hagen and the policies of his faction. Wibe resigned as deputy leader, and Carl I. Hagen's men (there were no women left in the leadership) also dominated the new central committee. The personal issues totally overshadowed the regular political debate, and as early as on 17 April the convention was famously dubbed as the "national convention at Dolkesjø"—derived from dolk, the Norwegian word for dagger.

In April and May, the Progress Party lost several members, including former members of Parliament and four current members of Parliament. In July the Youth of the Progress Party dissolved itself in protest of the events; however, a new, loyal organization immediately surfaced. Some of the withdrawn members joined the Conservative Party of Norway, others joined an entirely new organization (originally with the narrow intention to support the four parliamentarians), the quasi-political party Free Democrats.