Carl I. Hagen

Carl Ivar Hagen (born May 6, 1944) is a Norwegian politician and Vice-President of the Norwegian Parliament. He was the chairman of the Progress Party (Norwegian: Fremskrittspartiet) from 1978 to 2006, when Siv Jensen took over as chairman of the party. He is the son of CEO Ragnar Hagen (1908-1969) and accountant Gerd Gamborg (1914- ). He is married to Eli Hagen.

Education

*Examen artium 1963.
*Higher National Diploma in Business Studies 1968.
*Diploma in marketing at the Institute of Marketing, London 1968.

Organizational background

*Member of the board of the British Business Forum 1972.
*Member of the board of Norske Agenters landsforbund 1972-1974.
*Secretary of the Anders Lange Party, 1973-1974.

Non-political career

Prior to dedicating his professional life to politics, Hagen held the following positions: [cite web|url = http://www.stortinget.no/english/biography/CIH.shtml |title = Biography of Carl I. Hagen] by the Norwegian parliament ("Storting") |accessdate = 2008-07-16]

*CEO Tate & Lyle Norway A/S, 1970-1974.
*Consultant Finansanalyse A/S, 1977-1979.
*Economic policy consultant in the oil industry, 1979-1981.

Member of Parliament

*Deputy-rep for Oslo from 1973-74 ALP.
* Representative from Oslo 1974-77, for the Norwegian Reform Party
* Representative nr. 8 for Oslo from 1981-85, FrP.
* Representative nr. 14 for Oslo, 1985-89, FrP.
* Representative nr. 3 for Oslo, 1989-93, FrP.
* Representative nr. 6 for Oslo 1993-97, FrP.
* Representative nr. 3 for Oslo 1997-2001, FrP.
* Representative nr. 5 for Oslo 2001-2005, FrP.

Criticism

By his political opponents and some members of the media, Carl I. Hagen has often been labeled a populistFact|date=February 2007. The retort from Hagen is that this and other often used labels are not based in facts. The claim that FrP is populist dates back to a motion of no confidence in 1986 by the Conservative Party prime minister Kåre Willoch. During the parliamentary election campaign in 1985, the Progress Party had promised not to contribute to a socialist government. When the motion failed to pass - in part due to lack of support from FrP - Kåre Willoch explained it as "the unpredictablility of Carl I. Hagen". Still today FrP is criticized for its method of appealing to the masses by attacking government parties and presenting, to many ears, simplistic solutions to social issues or other political issuesFact|date=February 2007.

Several times in Hagen's political career, he been accused of playing on domestic fears of foreigners and immigrants. Because of this he has by some been suspected of having a racist agenda. He's especially known for having presented several accusations against Muslims, and Islam as a religion [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1097512.ece] [http://www.hegnar.no/okonomi/politikk/article234902.ece] .

References

*Carl I. Hagen: "Ærlighet varer lengst" ("Honesty is the best policy"), 1984, autobiography.
*Jan Ove Ekeberg and Jan Arild Snoen: "Kong Carl, en uautorisert biografi" ("King Carl: An unauthorised biography"), 2001, biography.

External links

* [http://www.stortinget.no/english/biography/CIH.shtml Biography of Carl I. Hagen] by the Norwegian parliament ("Storting")
* [http://www.bearstrong.net/warblog/000744.html Carl I Hagen - speech at "Levende Ord", July 13, 2004] (translated into English).