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PM plays taxi driver - for tips

OSLO, Norway - Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg revealed on Sunday (Au 11) that he went undercover as a taxi driver for an afternoon in a bid to find out voters' real concerns.

Stoltenberg said in a video posted on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube: "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 a taxi."

Watch the video

The video was released while campaigning was in full swing for the September 9 Norwegian general election which Stoltenberg's ruling Leftist coalition appears likely to lose according to the opinion polls.

FULL TAXI GEAR

Stoltenberg wore a taxi uniform with a badge one afternoon in June and picked up passengers in a black Mercedes-Benz in the Norwegian capital, Oslo. A hidden camera 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 the country and Norwegian taxi passengers will be better served if I were a prime minister and not a taxi driver."

According to the tabloid, the passengers did not have to pay for their journeys.
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