SV – fighting climate change and redistributing wealth

In this series of articles, Universitas wishes to include international students in, and introduce them to, the Norwegian political scene, starting with an introduction to the political parties. Inter Universitas has asked all the local youth parties to answer questions regarding the party itself, why international students should wish to join it, as well as what their most important topic for the upcoming election is.

The second party to be introduced is Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV) and its student party Socialist students Oslo. Founded in 1975, SV is a party to the left of the Norwegian political spectrum with a stated goal of building a society based on socialism in Norway. The party was last in government from 2005 until 2013 together with the Labour party (Arbeiderpartiet) and the Center party (Senterpartiet), when the current government was elected.

We spoke to Julia Giæver, who is currently the leader of Socialist Students Oslo.

Could you give a short description of the party’s ideological basis or its most important political topics?

The Socialist Student organization is what we like to call democratically socialist. We want to have a democratically run economy that is publicly owned, but in the hands of the people, so it is different than the more left-wing communist. We are also a feminist and an ecological party because we believe the fight for the environment and gender equality is essential for a decent future.

What are the most important topics for your party in the upcoming election?

In the upcoming election our main issues are fighting climate change, and redistributing wealth to the working class.

Why should an international student wish to join or vote for your party?

The Socialist student organization has partaken in efforts to support oppressed people in other parts of the world. We have also organized to get more relief from the Norwegian government for international students.

What is the party’s position on free university courses or scholarships for international students?

We support free universities, and our party’s representatives in the parliament have opposed all efforts to implement tuition fees for exchange students, whether from the current conservative government or previous efforts by the Labour Party. We also want to expand the availability of subjects for international students.