Election in Norway

Mysterious “Occultus Spiritus” wants to influence the election — ridicules Gahr Støre

A mysterious anonymous actor is trying to influence the Norwegian election through an extensive social media campaign, reports the Norwegian Dagens Næringsliv.

Via an encrypted email address and a fake phone number, “Occultus Spiritus”, a name with satanic connections, is spending large sums of money to drive opinion in favor of Norwegian right-wing parties.

In recent weeks, the account has spent the second most money on political content in the entire country, just behind the ruling Labor Party, which has so far spent around 1.2 million Norwegian kroner. It is unclear who is financing the effort.

Occultus Spiritus spreads political messages to a large audience in the form of humorous clips on the “Virale videoer” account on Norwegian social media. Among the content, criticism of wealth tax or ridicule of the country’s current Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is common.

Dagens Næringsliv has tried to contact the person behind the account without response.

Labour Party favourite – right-wing party loses ahead of election

On 8 September there will be elections in Norway – and for the incumbent Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, things are looking positive. His Labour Party is the favourite of the Norwegian people in eight out of 13 political areas, according to an opinion poll by Aftenposten.

For the opposition leader, Erna Solberg from the Høyre party, things are looking worse. In no area do Norwegian voters think the right-wing party is best.

The four most important issues ahead of the election are social differences in society, economy and working life, health, and taxes and fees. The Labour Party is favourite in three of them, apart from social differences where the left-wing party tops.

– It is a very bad sign for Høyre that they are going backwards in so many areas at the same time, says election researcher Johannes Bergh to Aftenposten.

He also emphasizes that the party has lost support on several of their core issues, and that their credibility has been significantly weakened.