History of the Socialist Left Party
After initial political setbacks in the 1970s, the party reorganized and regained support, particularly under Theo Koritzinsky (1983–87) and Erik Solheim (1987–97).
[4] A meeting in September elected Gustavsen as parliamentary leader of the coalition, Roald Halvorsen from the Communist Party as general secretary, and Larsen and Ås to the group board.
The media speculated that a faction led by Larsen would split from the party to join the ranks of the Socialist Left.
However, most Socialist People's Party members in the Oslo chapter did not want him to top the list, because of his background in Norwegian local politics.
Jørgensen lost the election for the first spot, instead obtaining 11th place on the list and eventually losing his nomination to Socialist People's Party official Fred Dunhaug.
In May, the Oslo chapter of the coalition held an oral ballot for the top place on the election list, and Jørgensen received 189 votes against Dunhaug's 192.
But his support started to waver when he wanted to put an end to the pro-Soviet line the party had held under the leadership of Emil Løvlien.
He still believed that Larsen and the remaining communists would continue to fight for communism in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.
[15] Because of the party's internal difficulties, its electoral base was greatly weakened in 1977:[14] only one Socialist Left candidate from Oslo, and only two nationwide, won seats in the Storting.
Gustavsen resigned as parliamentary leader, as early signs indicated that he did not have the full support of the party's Election Committee.
[19] It caused some controversy that two of the newly elected Members of Parliament had been convicted of treason for collaborating with the Nazis during World War II.
"[22] Late in 1977, it was known that both Furre and Finn Gustavsen had revealed classified information during an open meeting in the People's House of Oslo on 22 August 1977, after threatening to do so.
The platform, which had changed little since the 1973 election, was the centre of a power struggle, in which some Socialist Left Party members were calling for the removal of the peace paragraph (which called for the disbanding of the Norwegian military and the removal of foreign military bases located in Norway).
[26] In the wake of the 1979 local elections, the internal struggle continued, and Verdens Gang claimed the situation inside the party was like a "civil war".
When asked about the situation, Furre controversially claimed that there had never been so much stability within the party, considering that the main policy issues had been solved during the 1979 national convention.
This national convention adopted socialism as the party's most important campaign promise during the election, with the majority of the delegates voting in favour.
[29] The Socialist Left Party was able to increase its voting share by 0.7 percentage points, from 4.2% to 4.9% nationwide, during the 1981 parliamentary election.
Many members supported Solheim's criticism, and it led to renewed conflict between the right- and left-wing factions of the party.
[31] At its 1983 national convention, the Socialist Left Party initiated an action plan that supported an increase in government spending on the elderly and addressed what they called "serious issues with the welfare state".
In an interview with the Norwegian News Agency, he expressed amazement at the support he was able to gather, and even claimed "renewed interest" in the party.
[34] After the American invasion of Grenada, the party organised protests in Oslo against the war, during which Koritzinsky accused the political right of being slaves to the United States Government.
[38] While supporting his original goal of enlarging the NCTU, Koritzinsky also recognized that there existed good reasons for teachers to work in traditional organisations – before being elected party chairman he was a member of a local trade union himself.
[40] When Stein Ørnhøi retired from active politics in 1984,[41] Koritzinsky was seen as a likely candidate to replace him in the Storting, but it emerged that other party members were also interested in the Storting seat, most notably prominent Oslo city councillor Per Maurseth and veteran politician Finn Gustavsen.
[41] As it turned out, Koritzinsky became the Socialist Left Party's first candidate for the Storting and Maurseth became the second, winning a contest against Kristin Halvorsen for second place.
[43] At the national convention of 1985, Koritzinsky told the delegates that The voters accepted us as part of the labour movement a long time ago.
However, the Labour Party still showed no great interest in a coalition; it neither accepted nor rejected Koritzinsky's offer.
When asked why, he replied that he found it difficult to combine the chairmanship, his work in the Storting and the extensive travelling, which strained his family life.
By August, Solheim and Tora Haug were the most likely candidates for the position, as Gustavsen had become editor-in-chief of Ny Tid, the party's newspaper.
In self-defense, Koritzinsky stated that he himself believed he had received criticism for his unusual working methods, explaining further that during his party chairmanship, he had been worried that leading members had concentrated much power in their own hands.
[54] The race between Solheim and Haug was close, so several members sought a compromise by trying to persuade Koritzinsky to extend his chairmanship two more years, until the next national convention.
