On Tuesday, the Sámi Parliament’s plenum in Árviesjávrrie started with interpellations. The Samiland Party’s Johanna Njaita wanted an answer from the Sami Parliament’s board chairman Håkan Jonsson about why the message from the board to the Sami Parliament’s youth council came just one month before the planned joint conference for the SPR-N (Sami Parliamentary Council-Nuorat). She wonders why there are no funds for this, despite requested funds. As well as how to work in the future to ensure that SPR-N conferences are arranged every two years.
– We got a reasonable answer from Håkan Jonsson, but I think it is reprehensible and really bad. I mean that the matter could have been resolved in a better way, says Johanna Njaita.
She continues:
– I think that the chairman of the board clearly shows that the young people in the Sami Parliament are not a priority issue.
“There is a reality too”
In 2011, a joint youth council, Sámi Parliamentary Council Nuorat, was formed, the purpose of which was to strengthen cooperation in cross-border political issues concerning Sámi youth throughout Sápmi. Håkan Jonsson does not appear for an interview with SVT Sápmi, but in the podium he raised the Sami Parliament’s severely limited budget as a reason, which he also regretted.
“There is also a reality, and the reality is that we have to deal with a budget. And the difference between the opposition and the board is that you have no responsibility for finances, said board chairman Håkan Jonsson in the podium.