Government in Denmark changes color after close election
In a close national election Thursday, the liberal-conservative government lost their majority to the socialist parties in Parliament. A new government has yet to be formed, but it will in all likelihood be headed by Helle Thorning-Schmidt of the Social Democrats, making her the first female Minister of State ever in Denmark.
But before she has even received the keys for her new office, political observers are already predicting a bumpy road ahead for the new government. Although there is a majority in Parliament for a left-of-center government, there is also a majority behind a right-of-center economic policy, meaning that Helle Thorning-Schmidt can be forced to start her new job instituting the very policy she ran campaigned against.
The new government will also have to depend on the support of parties as diverse as the communist Red-Green Alliance and the Social-Liberals, creating a daunting challenge in finding common ground.
The former Minister of State, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who came into office when his predecessor Anders Fogh Rasmussen was appointed Secretary General of NATO, continues as the leader of the Liberal Party.
Photo: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, newly elected Minister of State in Denmark. Press photo by Lars Svankjær, 2010.
