Harald Bekken (born 4 August 1942) is a Norwegian priest and politician for the Labour Party.
He grew up in Nesodden Municipality. [1] After graduating with the cand.theol. degree, he was ordained in Nesodden Church in 1970 by bishop Per Lønning. [2]
In his early career he was a priest in the King's Guard, for the youth in Bøler Church and worked at the Seaman's Church in Haifa. After a period as chaplain in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland, he served as vicar in Vålerenga Church, Gamlebyen Church, and in Oslo Prison. [1]
He was active in the Labour Party in Tromsø Municipality, and remained so after moving back south. [1] From 1986 to 1987 he was a member of Brundtland's Second Cabinet as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Church and Education. [3] He was elected as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Oslo for the term 1989–1993. He only met during 1 day of parliamentary session. [4] He was city commissioner for culture and urban development in Rune Gerhardsen's city government in Oslo.
Bekken also served as leader of YNCA/YWCA in Norway as well as Kristne Arbeidere . [1]
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula with a population of 5.5 million as of 2024. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency, and not a part of the Kingdom; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.
Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of 709,037 in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, and the metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1,546,706 in 2021.
The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the legislature, the Storting, elected within a multi-party system. The judiciary is independent of the executive branch and the legislature.
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