Expansion of ‘Norwegian Law’ to boost number of politicians in office passes 1st vote

A bill to expand the so-called Norwegian Law passes its first Knesset reading 63-54.

The legislation will allow up to 10 downlist candidates to replace ministers in their Knesset seats.

The current Norwegian Law lets a number of cabinet members from each government party resign their Knesset seats while they hold their ministerial posts, and be replaced by the next candidates on their faction’s election rosters. Currently, the law allows factions with between four and six MKs to replace up to three ministers, factions with seven to nine to swap out up to four ministers, and factions with at least 10 lawmakers to switch out up to five ministers.

Likud’s plan will keep the limits for smaller factions, but eliminate the five-seat cap for factions with over 18 MKs. Instead, larger parties would be able replace up to a third of their slate, rounding up, so that the 32-seat Likud would be able to bring in up to 11 new MKs.

The bill needs two more votes before it becomes law.