What do you do if you’re in a position of leadership and
you want to understand what ordinary people are thinking?
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg revealed Sunday
that he went undercover as a taxi driver for an afternoon, in a bid to find out
voters' real concerns.
"It's important for me to hear what people really
think. If there's one place where people say what they think, it's in the
taxi," he said in a video posted on Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube.
The video was released while campaigning was in full swing
for the September 9 general election, which Stoltenberg's ruling leftist
coalition appears likely to lose, according to the latest opinion polls.
Stoltenberg wore an Oslo Taxi uniform -- complete with a
badge -- one afternoon in June and picked up passengers in a black Mercedes in
the Norwegian capital.
A hidden camera fitted in the cab-recorded reactions from
the passengers, including one who remarked: "From this angle, he really
looks like the prime minister."
An elderly woman who also recognised Stoltenberg urged him
to do something about "the salaries of bosses", complaining that
"they should not make millions like that".
Beyond revelations from the clients, Stoltenberg himself
had one to give away, admitting to a passenger who recognised him that he had
not driven in eight years.
Asked by tabloid Verdens Gang if he would like to be a
taxi driver if he lost the elections, Stoltenberg said: "I think that the
country and Norwegian taxi passengers are better served if I were a prime
minister and not a taxi driver."
Watch the video clip with
English subtitles.
Source: Norwegian PM works as taxi driver, Al
Jazeera, 11 August 2013.
Image: Jens Stoltenberg (Credit)