91

News

Lars Løkke looks set to call a minority government

TheCopenhagenPost
June 22nd, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

Attempts to forming a majority coalition look doomed

The headaches for Lars have started early (photo: Johannes Jansson)

The incoming prime minister, Venstre leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen, yesterday said he was giving up attempts to form a majority coalition government with the other three parties in the blue bloc, and that he would instead focus on attempts to rule with a minority government.

Rasmussen had begun negotiations on forming a new government on Saturday, after the blue bloc prevailed in last Thursday’s close election.

The talks included the three other blue bloc parties: Dansk Folkeparti (DF), Konservative and Liberal Alliance. However, while the parties are united under the blue bloc flag, they have major policy differences.

Off to see the queen … again
Rasmussen said he had tried – but failed – to come to a consensus with the other parties.

“I honestly tried, but realised it was not possible,” he told DR Nyhder.

Rasmussen is scheduled to meet with Queen Queen Margrethe II today to get her blessing to form a minority government.

“I will report this to the queen,” he said.

An uneasy alliance
The pundits predict that Venstre will either ask DF to take part in forming a new government, or that Venstre will form a government on its own, although Rasmussen would most likely like to avoid the latter scenario.

READ MORE: Analyst: Forming a government could be complicated

Negotiations with DF continue to be tricky. Some of DF’s demands for taking part in a coalition government are increased restrictions on immigration, tightening EU border restrictions and a nearly 1 percent growth in public spending.

Venstre had campaigned on reducing public spending.

 


Share

Most popular

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive The Daily Post

















Latest Podcast

A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”