OSLO : Lubna Jaffery joined the Norwegian Labour Party and became active in its youth organization AUF in 1995, when she was only 15.
On Wednesday, after 28 years of representing Labour in Bergen, the government and Parliament, Jaffery was tapped by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to become his government’s new Minister of Culture and Equality.
Jaffery, age 43, will be taking over after Anette Trettebergstuen, another relatively young and popular Labour Party veteran, but who ran into trouble for appointing close friends to official positions.
Trettebergstuen had to resign last week over the conflicts of interest, forcing Støre to quickly find a replacement for her right at the beginning of Pride Week, numerous cultural events and more drama around Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The prime minister insisted Jaffery was “an exciting and actually quite simple choice.” Her name popped up early in the speculation over Trettebergstuen’s successor, just as Jaffery was herself on her way to Denmark to attend the annual Roskilde festival.