One of the six officers of the Norwegian Parliament, Morten Wold, is seeking to resign his post as 1st vice president after being arrested for drunk driving during the Easter holidays. Wold has admitted to having an “alcohol problem” and that he needs medical help to solve it.
Morten Wold has been a member of Parliament for more than 12 years but is now resigning as its second-highest leader following his arrest for driving while under the influence of alcohol. PHOTO: Fremskrittspartiet
The 58-year-old Wold has been a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Buskerud for the conservative Progress Party since 2013. That’s a post from which he can’t resign, although he’s now gone out on sick leave while he gets “professional help” at “an institution.”
Wold, age 58, has publicly admitted on social media that he “has had challenges” and “made serious mistakes.” He wrote that while under the influence of alcohol, “I did something I regret,” getting into a vehicle and driving. Newspaper VG has reported that he was pulled over by police for drunk driving on the busy E18 highway at Asker, west of Oslo, on the evening before Easter Sunday.
Police had been alerted by other concerned motorists who reported his erratic driving and sent out a patrol car that pulled Wold over. He reportedly had a blood-alcohol level that was high enough to land him in jail.
He wrote himself that he plead guilty on the spot and “am prepared to accept punishment,” adding that he is “glad I didn’t hurt anyone.”
Wold has ironically been a member of the Parliament’s committee dealing with health care issues, and later on the committee in charge of family issues and culture. He more recently has served on the defense- and foreign affairs committee in addition to being a member of the Council of Europe’s parliamentary delegation in Strasbourg.
The president of the Norwegian Parliament (Masud Gharahkhani, third from right) ranks as the second most high-ranking official in Norway after the monarch. Morten Wold is standing next to him (third from left) in this photo of the parliamentary officers for session running from 2025 to 2029. Now Wold will be resigning his post. PHOTO: Stortinget
Progress Party leader Sylvi Listhaug has stated she’s glad Wold is now “being open that he has an alcohol problem” and is receiving help. “It’s serious to drive a car while under the influence,” she wrote in a statement to newspaper Aftenposten. She added that he has understood the serious nature of his case and that the party would “respect” his desire to resign as 1st vice president of the Parliament.
Party secretary Helge Fossum said it was “much too early” to address “other consequences” of Wold’s drunk-driving offense, adding they would be handled “in an ordinary manner.”
Wold worked as a journalist at local newspapers and magazine Se og Hør before spending more than 10 years at Drammens Tidende. He also was secretary general for the sky-flying World Cup event held in his home district at Vikersund in 2000.
Wold is the second top politician to be arrested for drunk driving in recent months. Parliament President Masud Gharahkhani told VG it was both “serious and sad,” and now the Parliament must elect a new vice president.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund