Geir Inge Sivertsen has been confirmed as Norway’s new minister of fisheries and seafood.
The appointment was one of a number of government changes announced by the king of Norway in the Council of State after the Progressive Party quit the Conservative-led coalition government.
Norway’s Progressive Party quit the current right-wing coalition government after the repatriation of a suspected Islamic State member and her two children, according to the Times of Israel. With the Progressive Party’s withdrawal, the coalition government – headed by Prime Minister Erna Solberg – loses its majority in Norway’s parliament. However, Solberg will remain in charge.
Fifty-five-year-old Sivertsen takes over from Harald Tom Nesvik, who held the post of fisheries minister for 18 months. Nesvik is a member of the Norwegian Progress Party, and an executive at Solvtrans, a wellboat company that transports live salmon and trout.
Nesvik’s appointment followed the resignation of the previous minister of fisheries, Per Sandberg, after he came under criticism for a vacation that he took in Iran.
Previously, Sivertsen had served as mayor of Lenvik from 2011 to 2019, and was state secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries from 2019-2020.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
