Several politicians are questioning the financing of the controversial ad campaign, though the party maintains it has nothing to hide.

The PLN (Partilovnemnda / Party Law Committee) is the government organ responsible for ensuring that political parties in Norway follow the laws and regulations of party financing. Donations to political parties are to be registered to the Norwegian government for documentation.

The Peace & Justice Party (Fred og rettferdighet, abbrev. FOR) has one documented donation: 50,000 kroner. [c. 4,850 USD]

—“It’s understandable that people would question if it’s really possible to finance the Peace & Justice Party’s total carpeting of the Oslo Metro on such a budget,” PLN leader Ragna Aarli says.

The PLN is now set to investigate the case of the red Peace & Justice posters which have covered Oslo Metro cars since May 17th, and since Monday the 19th also been sighted at Oslo Central Station.

The controversial posters will remain on display until Friday the 23rd, according to Sporveien, the operators of the Oslo Metro. The Peace & Justice Party reports to VG that the campaign involves a total of 8,600 posters.

“We have nothing to hide”

The Peace & Justice Party was founded in 2023. It is opposed to NATO and believes that Norway should not contribute to the War in Ukraine.

“No to 85 billion kroner to war in Ukraine!” one of the posters on the Oslo Metro says; “Spend our money on welfare, not war!” says the other.

Party leader Marielle Leraand is depicted on several posters.

—“We have no problem with being investigated. It’s good that they’re investigating, and we have nothing to hide,” she says to NRK.

She does not want to say who has paid for the ad campaign but emphasizes that Peace & Justice follows Norwegian law. The party also does not want to say how much the campaign cost.

—“Is the money from Norwegian donors?”

—“I will not answer that question now,” says Leraand.

—“So you will not deny that the money might come from, say, the Russian government or people from Russia?”

—“I will not answer that type of question,” says Leraand.

Leraand was previously the Red Party’s second in command, but resigned in 2023 to protest the party’s decision to support sending weapons to Ukraine.

1.4 million

—“The ad campaign is approved in accordance with the current guidelines,” says Sporveien’s press contact Tone S. Tuhus to NRK.

JCDecaux is responsible for the ads on the Oslo Metro. The agency’s list of prices indicates that a similar campaign would cost >1.4 million kroner [c. 136K USD] for one week, not including potential discounts.

JCDecaux on Sunday did not wish to say how much Peace & Justice had paid.

—“That is obviously confidential,” JCDecaux Norway’s CEO Gisle Holst Roness wrote in a text message.

Sporveien confirms that a discount was negotiated for Peace & Justice.

—“But the final price is confidential,” the company writes to NRK.

Duty to inform

Party financing is regulated by Norwegian law: all political parties have a duty to inform who they have received donations from. All donations over 10,000 kroner must be identified.

—“Anonymous donations or donations from abroad are strictly banned,” PLN leader Ragna Aarli says.

—“The PLN has received a number of inquiries about the Peace & Justice situation. We must investigate where the donation came from and whether it was legal,” Aarli says.

—“How will you do this?”

—“First of all we have to contact Peace & Justice themselves. They don’t want to disclose to the media how they’ve financed their campaign, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t open up to us in the PLN about it. So that’s where we’ll have to begin,” Aarli says.

“It’s a matter of faith”

Aarli says that the PLN also has the ability to look more closely at Peace & Justice’s accounts, through the help of, among other things, the PRU (Partirevisjonsutvalget / Party Audit Committee); and says that openness about party finances is important as a general principle for our country.

—“What sort of significance does this have in an election year?”

—“It’s a matter of faith in the democratic process, and that the election isn’t stolen by foreign actors. We are a small country vulnerable to campaigns of foreign influence. Not that I’m going to assert that the Peace & Justice situation is an example of that,” Aarli says.

The PLN is scheduled to meet in approximately one week, on May 27th.

—“Will the Peace & Justice situation be discussed in the coming meeting?”

—“Yes, it will. We have received so many inquiries even from private persons about the case that we must discuss it and how we will handle the situation going forward, to determine whether Peace & Justice is following regulations,” Aarli says.