Student Parliament refusing to pick sides
After a certain amount of turbulence at the Student Parliament’s meeting last Thursday, it became clear that the Student Parliament was not going to support one of the candidates for the rectorship.
On Thursday the 26th of March, the Student Parliament (SP) voted not to give a public declaration of support to either of the candidates for the rectorship.
Leader Heine Skipenes believes that the decision not to support just one candidate shows the breadth and variety of the student body, and thinks that it is up to students to decide who wins.
– In such an even race, the student body is clearly divided into different camps, he says.
During the last rectorship election, the then leader of the Student Parliament Maria Veie Sandvik spoke out against rector Geir Ellingsrud’s candidacy, which received sharp criticism from other student politicians.
Yet university board representatives Jomar Talnes Heggdal and Ingvild Brox Kielland still chose to go public with their preferences. The former supports Wyller, while the latter supports Ottersen.
Heggdal believes that SP have the duty as student representatives to inform, take a stand, and promote the best candidate in advance of the election.
Per Anders Langerød of the Social Democrats disagrees with Heggdal. He believes that it is the Student Parliament’s job to assist the rector candidates before the finishing line, and that SP will benefit from allowing the candidates to fight for the votes of students, instead of backing one of them.
Leader Heine Skipenes encourages all students to think for themselves and vote before the election ends on Thursday the 2nd of April at 4 pm.
