Michael de Laine

By Michael de Laine, The Copenhagen Voice, 3 March 2010

The first head-to-head debate between the top politicians vying for the post of Danish Prime Minister at the next parliamentary election indicates that the main theme of the campaign will be the economy, and which parties will be better at ensuring Denmark recovers from the present financial crisis. The main themes of the election campaigns for the past decade – immigration and integration – were absent in yesterday’s clash of Prime Minister candidates.

The first head-to-head debate between the present Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who leads the Liberal-Conservative coalition government, and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who leads the Social Democrats, indicates that the economy, and which parties will be better at ensuring Denmark recovers from the present financial crisis, will be the main themes of the campaigning at the next parliamentary election, to be held in November 2011 at the latest.

Immigration and integration – the main themes of the election campaigns for the past decade – were absent in yesterday’s clash of the top politicians vying for the post of Danish Prime Minister.

Should the government cut public budgets or focus on public works to improve the infrastructure to help Denmark weather the present financial crisis, with its rising unemployment? And what path should the government choose in its endeavours to improve the public finances by a total of DKK 31 billion by 2015, as long-standing Danish plans and the EU require?

What should be done about the hospitals and should the tax cuts in the coming years be postponed?

These were among the subjects discussed by the two Prime Minister candidates.

Apart from the problem for the national economy posed by the scheme for early retirement, there was little agreement between Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose Liberal-Conservative coalition government relies on the support of the Danish People’s Party, and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, whose Social Democrats are in a sort of parliamentary partnership with the Socialist People’s Party and who may need the support of the Social Liberals to form a government.

But in the matter of national economics (and, in fact, in certain areas of immigration and integration), the Social Liberals take a different line, which could make it difficult for Helle Thorning-Schmidt to form a government.

Both she and Lars Løkke Rasmussen were reticent to reveal their economic plans – the Social Democrats/Socialist People’s Party plan is not yet finished, but will focus on employment, while the government’s budget for 2011, due in August, depends in part on the review of the Danish economy to be published by the ministry of Finance in May.

The head-to-head was arranged by the Politiken newspaper.