Congestion fee creates debate
3
Arcade Fire come to rock the ‘burbs
G6
Drama in the land of Woz
14
Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk
26 August - 1 September 2011 | Vol 14 Issue 34
PETER STANNERS
NEWS
Denmark is failing to live up to WHO smoking conventions
7
Immigrant teens lag behind in reading Study: 46 percent of secondgeneration immigrants do not have functional reading capabilities
NEWS | 10
COMMUNITY
Three British cyclists stole the show at the St Alban’s Summer Fete
11
Churchill put his boxers on there; now you can too A piece of Copenhagen history will go under the hammer on Friday, when Hotel D’Angleterre auctions off some of its furnishings to the highest bidder.
CULTURE | 18
Mr. Assimilation sets the record straight Søren Pind knows his words have got him into trouble, but he’s okay with that 4
Surprise! PM quashes rampant election rumours
HISTORY
JENNIFER BULEY Rasmussen vexes those impatient for election by announcing he wants stimulus package approved first The legacy of ‘professional amateur’ Asger Jorn will outlast his peers
19
9 771398 100009
Price: 25 DKK
P
RIME minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen kept pundits and the voting public guessing when he dismissed any suggestion on Tuesday that he would call a general election this week. Political watchers were all but certain Rasmussen was preparing to call an election within a day, or maximum two, of presenting the Liberal-Conservative government’s economic stimulus plan, citing a list of hints and signs from pre-emptive advertising campaigns, cancelled trips and political positioning
statements. Instead Rasmussen told reporters he would wait to call an election until he had secured a majority in parliament for the plan. “I am not concerned with an election. I am concerned with taking action,” Rasmussen said. The deputy prime minister, Lars Barfoed, who presented the plan together with Rasmussen, confirmed the PM’s message. “We are not here to present an election plan. We are a government at work. We are a government that takes responsibility. That’s what we’re concerned with,” he said. However, just one week ago Barfoed gave Rasmussen a not-so-subtle hint that he had best call the election now to avoid further economic damage. Barfoed emphasised that it was up to Rasmussen to determine the exact date
for the election. “But we obviously cannot stretch it out much longer,” he told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. “The most important factor for getting growth rolling again is clarity about the election and whether there will be a majority in parliament that will carry through on the early retirement reforms and other initiatives, so that we can have some peace of mind about our economy in the long term,” he said. Margrethe Vestager, the Social Liberal’s leader, also challenged Rasmussen to call the election right away. “We cannot wait two or three months. The responsible thing is to have the election as soon as possible and, regardless of who wins, bring the parties together and show the voters that we can work together to solve these problems,” Vestager said last week.
According to a new opinion poll, the majority of voters say that the economy is the most important issue in this year’s election. By law the election must take place no later than November 12. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the leader of the Social Democrats, who is pegged to be the next prime minister should the left-of-centre opposition parties win the election, reacted swiftly after Rasmussen indicated the election would not be called this week. “Seldom has a government created so much insecurity in so short a time. There is total confusion all over Denmark,” Thorning-Schmidt said. “Denmark cannot move on until we get clarity.” Despite Rasmussen’s indications, Thorning-Schmidt told Ekstra Bladet she still expected an election to be called in the next few days.