Monday 29 June 2015

ELECTION FEVER (7)

Yesterday Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced his government, which was even narrower than I expected. It will consist of his own Venstre party alone, none of the three other right-of-centre parties will take part. Not only will it command the immediate support of just 34 of the Folketing's 179 MP's, but it will be led by the leader of the third largest party. In British terms, it would be as if Nick Clegg or Nigel Farage were Prime Minister, and not David Cameron or Ed Miliband.

With so few people to choose from, Mr. Rasmussen has shrunk the Cabinet from 20 to 17, and brought in the former head of the main employers' organisation to be his Employment Minister. His Government programme is also decidedly thin on specific proposals, reflecting the fact that he doesn't have a Parliamentary majority for anything, and so must strike deals with both left-wing and right-wing parties if he wants to get anything done. Fortunately, political horse-trading is Mr. Rasmussen's forte, he being a leader who would rather get things done than set out grand principles.

Can such a government last? Mr. Rasmussen seemed pretty upbeat at the press conference announcing the programme, and clearly thinks he can last a full 4-year term. However, he should also reflect on the last occasion there was a single party Venstre government, back in the 1970's after the first oil crisis. Poul Hartling had even fewer MP's then than Mr. Rasmussen now, namely just 22. He ruled for only 14 months, from late 1973 to early 1975, before throwing in the towel and handing over to Social Democrat Anker Jørgensen, who had been his predecessor. If things don't go well and quickly, then the same thing could happen again.

Walter Blotscher

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