The short version
- Arina Aamir (18) from the Conservative Party will become Norway’s youngest parliamentary representative by seizing a permanent seat in the Storting at the 2025 election.
- There are four reasons why she is running: Engage young people, fight youth crime, fight for school reform and EU membership.
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Last year, Arina Aamir (18) managed to become the youngest politician in history in Oslo city council.
Now she wants to try to top it.
– I have decided to make myself available to the election committee in Oslo Conservative Party, ahead of the general election next year. I have ambitions to hijack one permanent placePermanent place means that you get so high on the nomination list that you are guaranteed a place in the Storting. Fixed place means one of the first five or six places on the nomination list for Oslo Høyre: Høyre in Oslo has over time held around five or six seats in the Storting. They have five places today.says the young Høyre politician.
Aamir says there are four reasons why she is running:
1. YOUNG IN: – 1st and 2nd time voters are the ones who vote the least and we have to do something about that. Then it is important that they see that someone is there to represent them.
– School policy is highlighted as very important by many parties, but most politicians talk to parents. I want to talk to the students and start from their reality.
2. THE GANGS: - Youth crime is the other important issue, where increasingly young people are being recruited into the gangs.
– Everyone agrees that it takes a lot of effort to do something about?
– Yes, but it will help if someone comes in who is young. I live in Groruddalen and probably understand somewhat better than many older politicians what is happening – and what needs to be done.
– What must be done?
– Roughly speaking, there are two political paths. Those who want to be very hard on them and just punish. Then there are those who want to have a greater focus on prevention and rehabilitation. I think we need a mix of both.
Answer three questions in this case
Who is Arina Aamir and why is she in the news?Arina Aamir is an 18-year-old politician from Oslo who has recently made a name for herself by becoming the youngest politician in Oslo city council. Now she has set herself a new goal of becoming the youngest permanent representative in the Storting. She has been in the news because she wants to represent young voters and address important issues such as school policy, youth crime, school reform and EU membership.
The Storting is Norway’s national assembly and main legislative body. It plays a critical role in Norwegian politics by making and adopting laws, determining the national budget and monitoring the government. Having a place in the Storting gives politicians the opportunity to influence these processes and thus shape the future of Norway.
Yes, it is possible. If she is elected in the next parliamentary election, she will surpass Maren Grøthe, who was the youngest person to have sat in the Storting, but only as a regular deputy representative.
This article was created using AI tools from OpenAI, and quality assured by VG’s journalists.
3. SCHOOL REFORM: - 23–24 per cent of pupils are not good enough in reading, writing and arithmetic, according to national tests. We need to invest more in improving it.
She adds:
– There is a lot of focus on dropping out in upper secondary school, but dropping out starts in secondary school. We need a secondary school reform, to earlier help those who are struggling.
4. EU MEMBERSHIP: - The fourth is EU membership.
We look a little silly at her.
– EU membership?
– It has been 30 years since the last EU referendum. Since then, 12 new cohorts have been able to vote in the general election. Climate crisis and war means that we have to start a new EU debate. And also when it comes to this, the elderly should listen, because it is primarily the young who are more positive about the EU. Our voice must be heard in that debate, says Aamir.
Stoltenberg
She has a pretty funny story about a guy from a certain competing party on the left.
Her mother, Afshan Rafiq (49), led the way as a non-Western politician both in the Oslo City Council and in the Storting.
– I was three years old and with my mother at a debate, in which then Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg also participated.
He came out to greet dad and me, she says:
– He asked if I knew who he was. “Yes, I know, you’re prime minister. When I grow up I will take over your office.
She laughs and adds:
– A bit small, but fun.
– It is not completely unrealistic if you enter the Storting?
– There is still a long way to go. The question is whether Norway is eventually ready for a prime minister with a minority background. Time will show.
– Have you done anything wrong in your life?
– I cheated on a test in German last year. It was between grades five and six.
– What did you get?
– I got six. I looked a bit on the mobile when it came to some German words. Ugh, my German teacher won’t like to read this, she says slightly embarrassed.
Vara has been younger
Maren Grøthe (22) is the youngest person to have entered the Storting, but only as deputy representative for Ola Borten Moe when he was a minister from 2021 to 2023.
Aamir may become the youngest to be permanently elected.
She beats Mette Hanekamphaug who was 22 when she was elected to the Storting for the FRP in 2009.
Thomas Konow was only 17 years old when he was a member of the constitutional “National Assembly” at Eidsvoll in 1814, but he was not elected to the Storting until 1839.
