IS THERE SOMETHING ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF DENMARK?

Denmark, like Sweden, has seen it's political scene dominated by the Social Democrats. Their tax pressure is huge - only Sweden tops it among the OECD countries - and their welfare state covers most areas.

At their latest election things changed a bit. The social democrats lost the election and a new centre right government consisting of the Liberal party (Venstre) and the Conservative party (Konservativt Folkeparti) was formed, ruling with the parliamentary support from populist Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti). Now, with a new election to be held at the 8th of February, the coalition looks certain to stay in power. But still there is something rotten.

I'm not talking about the critized immigration laws that this government has implemented, though they are indeed nothing to celebrate. Instead, it's the economic policies that have been a let down, and things aren't likely to change after this election. When a centre-right coalition brags about how they've increased the number of people employed in the public sector, you know something is wrong. And things doesn't get better when the government's main promise consists of ensuring that they won't cut down on the welfare state. As Svenska Dagbladet's editorial page points out, even the Social Democratic newspapers seem happy, with Politiken merrily writing that Fogh (the PM) wins as a Social Democrat.

Is this a development that we're like to see in Sweden as well? And is it necessary to move leftwards in order to win an election in Scandinavia? We've already seen the Swedish conservatives making strides towards the centre under the leadership of Fredrik Reinfeldt, and at the same time the polls suggest that their popularity, along with the popularity of the entire opposition alliance has increased.

I'd still like to think that election victory can be achieved without turning into Social Democrats. The problem has often lied in the presentation and the lack of confidence; not in the ideas. The presentational problems still remains, but the confidence among the more liberal minded in Sweden has increased of late. Much still needs to be improved to show voters that there is a good alternative to the Social Democrats, but the 2006 Swedish election is there for the taking.

Finally I should point out that though some things are indeed rotten in the state of Denmark, some things have also improved quite a lot with the regime change. Foreign policy is the most notable example.

Comment this article

--