Norwegian left-wing party leader Bjørnar Moxnes resigned on Monday after stealing a pair of luxury sunglasses from Oslo airport.
Moxnes — who leads Norway’s Red Party which has eight seats in the Norwegian parliament — was caught on camera on June 16 pilfering a pair of Hugo Boss sunglasses in a duty-free shop. After surveillance footage of the theft went viral, Moxnes called in sick at the beginning of July.
On Monday — one day before his planned return from sick leave — Moxnes admitted to the theft and resigned from his position. “A lot of people have asked me how I could do something so stupid. I’ve asked myself that many times in recent weeks. I don’t have an adequate explanation,” he wrote on Facebook.
One day earlier, the Red Party national executive committee decided that Marie Sneve Martinussen will replace Moxnes as party leader, who had held the role for the past 11 years.
Martinussen on Monday condemned both the theft and the way Moxnes handled the scandal, because he did not provide “correct information” about the case from the beginning. “I’m both angry and disappointed about that, and I’ve told Bjørnar that in very direct manner and in straightforward language,” she said at a press conference.
However, given that Moxnes apologized and resigned after the scandal, the case is “closed” for Martinussen, local media reported. Martinussen will be party leader until 2024.
