Marxist Rødt Party in Norway: Left-wing party leader resigns – because he stole sunglasses

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Resigned party leader Bjørnar Moxnes: "I made a serious mistake"

Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB / IMAGO

The leader of the Norwegian Marxist party Rødt ("Red"), Bjørnar Moxnes, resigned on Monday. Moxnes was caught stealing a pair of Hugo Boss sunglasses at Oslo airport in mid-June. "I made a serious mistake and made things worse with the way I dealt with it. I'm very sorry about that," Moxnes wrote on Facebook. He admitted to stealing the glasses.

He did not want his family and friends to continue to suffer from his mistake, Moxnes wrote. They had been attacked in public and on social media. But he alone bears responsibility for his mistake. In addition, he wanted to avert damage to the party: "The party must be able to concentrate completely on politics," he wrote. Moxnes had been the party's leader since 2012.

Moxnes had previously claimed that he had just forgotten to pay for the sunglasses. It cost 1199 Norwegian kroner (about 100 euros). This is reported, among other things, by the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK . A surveillance camera had recorded him putting the glasses in his pocket. Later, it was found in his luggage – without the price tag. Moxnes had to pay a fine of 3000 Norwegian kroner (about 270 euros).

Rødt wants a classless society – most recently won 4.7 percent of the vote

Until a party congress next year, the former deputy party leader, Marie Sneve Martinussen, will take over the chairmanship. Commenting on Moxne's resignation, she said at a press conference: "He admitted to stealing the sunglasses. He should have done so much earlier, but now he has drawn conclusions and resigned. That's the end of the matter for me."

Rødt received 2021.4 percent of the vote in the 7 parliamentary elections and currently holds eight seats in the Norwegian parliament. In total, the parliament has 169 seats. Rødt sees itself as a "revolutionary" party and wants to create a "classless society". One of the main goals is the expansion of the welfare state. In 2019, Bjørnar Moxnes failed to remove the word "communism" from the party's principles at a party congress.

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