Jacob Christensen

Okay – on multiple requests … well: A request …, here is some of the story of the 1997 self-defeating self-defeating scheme where the Danish government failed to bring down itself.

First, to appreciate the story, you should know that the Danish prime minister has almost unlimited powers to call elections¹, but it is not always feasible to be seen as the part drawing the gun first. So, demonstrating the opposition’s lack of will of cooperation is an important part of the staging of elections.

In October 1997, polls looked favourable for the government (or to be more precise: The Social Democrats, the major partner in the government) so calling an early election was definitively tempting.

But there was a catch: The government was a minority coalition with the Social Liberals, and they generally dislike early elections. So leading Social Democrats (my guess: Mogens Lykketoft – a master of cunning plans) devised a cunning plan: Present an economic “package” so ambitious that there was no way the Conservatives and Liberals would engage in serious negotiations, the government would not command a majority, and voil�: The Social Liberals would have to accept a snap election.

Needless to say, the Conservatives and Liberals weren’t that stupid and responded to the government’s initiative by saying “oh, that’s very interesting. Of course, we have some points of criticism, but sure nothing we couldn’t negotiate about.”

All of this was done live, during a debate in the chamber, and the prime minister’s only response was to ask for an adjournment of the debate, so the government could sort out its own position. One hour. (Intense discussions between Social Democrats and Social Liberals). The chamber reassembles.

The speaker of the Folketing: The Prime Minister has asked for an extra adjournment of one hour.

(Intense discussions between Social Democrats and Social Liberals). Reassembly.

The speaker of the Folketing: The Prime Minister has asked for an extra adjournment of one hour.

(Renewed intense discussions between Social Democrats and Social Liberals). Reassembly.

The speaker of the Folketing: Prime Minister has asked for an extra adjournment of…(drum roll)…thirty minutes!

Everybody in the chamber with the exception of the Social Democratic front bench laughs heartily. (In the Danish parliament utterances of approval or disapproval are strictly forbidden!)

Eventually, Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Finance Minister Mogens Lykketoft had to bow to the pressure from their Social Liberal partner and enter into serious negotiations with the Liberals and the Conservatives. Needless to say, everybody agreed that Messrs Nyrup and Lykketoft were left with not only eggs but an entire omelette on their faces after the botched execution of their most cunning of plans.

And the election? Oh, it was called in March 1998 and the government won by the tiniest of margins. 160 votes. On the Faeroes, no less. That caused a slight embarrassment for the Social Democrats when the Folketing elected a new speaker as Erling Olsen did not run in the 1998 election, but that is another story. Or perhaps not.

1. (S)He cannot call an election before having presented the government’s programme for the Folketing – otherwise it’s only a practical question of getting the process started, so elections can be called at 21 days’ notice. [↩]

The order of words is important in Danish. According to the headline the Danish People’s Party wants Lars L�kke Rasmussen replaced as finance minister. According to the story, DF wants Anders Fogh Rasmussen replaced as prime minister.

Is London Police run by agents of the Danish People’s Party?

Probably.

Can we make fun of it?

Definitively.

Just a rejoinder to a blog-post by one of my former students about the resignation of the Czech government after a vote of no confidence: Politics in the Czech Republic seem to be a highly complicated affair – well, Kafka was from Prague after all, so what did we expect? – and it is worth noting that international media have a hard time explaining exactly why the Topolanek government fell.

But then there is the thing about votes of no confidence. As it is, there is one country where votes of no confidence (either formally or de facto) have played a large role in parliamentary life. Just look at these years:

1909, 1929, 1947, 1950, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1984, 1988

That’s ten votes of no confidence or similar votes which have triggered either the resignation of a government or general elections since the introduction of parliamentarism in 1901.

To be more specific:

• Government resigned without calling a general election: 1909, 1950, 1975
• Government called a general election and lost: 1929, 1947, 1967/8, 1973
• Government called a general election, but the Prime Minister continued in office after the election: 1981, 1984, 1988

And, yes: The country is Denmark and parliamentarians seem to have learnt something from the last three occasions because we haven’t had a decent vote of no confidence bringing down a government since 1988.¹ And EU is the main reason why the Danish People’s Party isn’t a formal member of the governing coalition since 2001.

PS: In case you wonder, we have also had resignations preempting a vote of no confidence. 1909 (yes, a messy year), 1982 and 1993.

PPS: But wait, I hear you say – wasn’t there elections in 1950 and 1975? Sure – the governments were brought down shortly after the elections and the Prime Minister (Hedtoft in 1950, Hartling in 1975) didn’t have the stomach for new elections.

1. I will leave aside 1997 when the government tried to bring down itself. A high point in political comedy [↩]