November 27th, 2022

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(photo: Hasse Ferrold)

It’s really sad when the leaders of this world are lying in clear daylight. Putin does it, Trump did it, and their kinsmen and lieutenants do it. They cannot be trusted – as simple as that. 

Fact deniers, lie perpetrators
Søren Kjær, a Danish parliamentarian in the 19th century, became famous when in a debate his opponent said that what he was actually saying was a fact. “If that is a fact then I deny facts,” he replied. 

Goebbels said that if you repeat a lie a thousand times it becomes the truth. Let’s hope the aforementioned gentlemen do not live to repeat their lies a thousand times.

Some 16 parties elected
In Denmark democracy was at its best when the general election catapulted 16 political parties – if you count the North Atlantic members as representatives of the parties that chose them –  into Christiansborg.

Already one of the elected members, Mette Thiesen from Nye Borgerlige, has left her party to become an independent. Sad to note, given that nearly 5,000 people personally voted for her, that her decision had nothing to do with political disagreement.

But overall, this multitude of representations are now looking to be part of a coalition with a governmental majority behind it – or at least not against it. 

Still waiting for new order
The make-up of this coalition is still in the balance and, in the meantime, life is returning to normal. Gas prices have fallen, although many of us have got used to saving electricity by using the dishwasher in the middle of the night when the prices are at their lowest.

Inflation is taking the top off our savings and profits, so more people are being laid off, although the pressure on the labour market is easing. Meanwhile,immigration politics is very low on the agenda. 

And everybody agrees that the health sector should have an overhaul – but how? The health sector unions have positioned themselves really well. It finally looks like the pandemic heroes will be properly rewarded.

Løkke will tell you no lies
For most of Election Night, no majority looked likely for either the red or the blue bloc. Former PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen got within a hair’s breadth of being the kingmaker, and he would have done had the Konservative leader not imploded. 

But by the end of the count, it was clear PM Mette Frederiksen will continue. There’s no doubt about that, but she can find new playmates. 

And so, we are left with the important question: trust. The building of mutual trust, not politics, will be the decisive factor when a new government is formed. 

And while Løkke may be many things, we’ve never heard him lie. Silence on occasion, but never lies!