The government then spoke up during a city council meeting in Kristiansand. The city council does not support a referendum or citizen survey on the division of the municipality.

There is little indication that the visit of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party) and Local Government Minister Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp) has calmed the atmosphere in the southern village during Wednesday’s city council meeting.

– I experienced it as dramatic. They have a big job to explain to us local shopkeepers, and to make sure that this doesn’t happen again, group leader Kenneth Mørk in the Labor Party Kristiansand told VG shortly after the meeting.

In December last year, the nearly unanimous city council decided to halt the entire process of dissolving the combined major municipalities.

– We’ve said no before and that’s good enough. “Personally, I think what we’re going to do now is pretty crazy,” Mørk said at the meeting.

Stumble

He was involved in making a proposal to conduct separate surveys in Søgne and Songdalen on the referendum, but the proposal was withdrawn because there was no majority for it, Mørk said.

Likewise, the Central Party’s proposal to immediately hold a referendum.

On Monday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party) was in town to meet with party colleagues. Mørk said he was pleased with the self-criticism brought by the party leader.

– But it hurts, that’s all. This has been a painful and upsetting process for years, he said.

Mayor Jan Oddvar Skisland (Labor Party) told VG that the city council stood by its stance, and that there was still a majority retaining the large municipality.

– Here there is a majority who think we are overrun, and who find it difficult to deal with. We’re still there, said Skisland.

– Sorry

Hence, they had to wait until the State Administrator investigated a division of a large municipality before they had to take up positions on this matter again. It probably won’t be finished until closer to 2023.

– This will affect Kristiansand’s policies in the next six months, what do you think?

“This is what we think is very unfortunate, but the fight continues and we believe this is a resource solution from the violent dimension,” said Skisland.

– On Monday you were visited by Jonas Gahr Støre, what did you think after he left?

– He is clear that the process surrounding this decision is not optimal, so it is important for us to say that we do not agree.

“Now we are first and foremost waiting for legal clarification of whether what the government has done is legal, then we have to see what happens,” Skisland said.

To investigate

Earlier in June, the government announced that it would hold a referendum in the old towns of Søgne and Songdalen to secede from Kristiansand in municipal elections in 2023.

The state administrator in Agder has been assigned by the government to investigate the Kristiansand division.

During a city council meeting, state administrator Gina Lund in Agder presented the work.

He promised thorough and comprehensive work, and said areas such as health, schools, kindergartens and welfare services, would have “significant” space.

– We will go to extremes and prioritize this as the most important issue in the future, Lund said at the meeting.