Young women conquer Christiansborg .. and the new PM designate

It is the latest story happening at what is  frequently ranked as the happiest and least corrupt country in the world.    Asian countries – India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand – have had it earlier – women in power.  The Danes have voted many young women into the center of power making a power statement that Politics is not just for old men in gray suits.  When the Danish Parliament reconvenes in October, many young women can be seen – as many as 19 of them are under 35 years which includes 10 under 30……… - and to cap that their new Prime Minister is going to be another woman - Helle Thorning-Schmidt at the helm of Christiansborg. Yet another is radical Liv Holm Andersen, who  is  24.

the young legislator Liv Holm Anderson

Christiansborg Palace,  on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, is the seat of the Folketing (the Danish parliament), the Danish Prime Minister's Office and the Danish Supreme Court. The palace is thus the house of Denmark's three supreme powers: the executive power, the legislative power, and the judicial power. It is the only building in the world that houses all three of a country's branches of government. Christiansborg Palace is owned by the Danish state, and is run by the Palaces and Properties Agency. 

Greenland  is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.  Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway andDenmark) for about a millennium.  With the Constitution of Denmark of 1953, Greenland became a part of the Kingdom of Denmark in a relationship known in Danish as Rigsfællesskabet (Commonwealth of the Realm).  Greenland is, by area, the world's largest island that is not a continent. Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. The national language, Danish, is closely related to Swedish and Norwegian, with which it shares strong cultural and historical ties.

The Danish parliamentary election of 2011 took place on 15 September 2011 in order to elect the 179 members of the Danish parliament. Of those 179, 175 members were elected in Denmark, two in the Faroe Islands and two from  Greenland.  The  ruling Liberal Party became the largest party and gained a seat and the Social Democrats lost a seat, the opposition parties combined obtained more seats than the liberal-conservative government coalition. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen tendered the cabinet's resignation to Queen Margrethe II on 16 September, but his cabinet will remain in office as a caretaker government until a new cabinet is appointed. Social Democrat leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is expected to be appointed Prime Minister, negotiating a government platform with their coalition partners the Socialist People's Party and the Social Liberal Party. The Queen will appoint a new Prime Minister once the candidate secures parliamentary support.

The PM designate  Helle Thorning-Schmidt  (1966) is the  leader of the Danish Social Democrats.  As the candidate of the Social Democrats' right wing, she replaced Mogens Lykketoft as party chairman after the 2005 election. She led her party through the 2007 Danish parliamentary election but failed to gain a majority. Following the 2011 elections on 15 September 2011, she is expected to be appointed Prime Minister of Denmark if she succeeds in negotiating a government platform with the other opposition parties. If appointed by Queen Margrethe, she will become Denmark's first female Prime Minister.  She served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the Danish Parliament in 2005.

Thorning-Schmidt holds advanced degrees of political science from the University of Copenhagen and the College of Europe.  Through her marriage to Stephen Kinnock, she is the daughter-in-law of Neil Kinnock, former leader of the British Labour Party and European Commissioner, and Glenys Kinnock, former British Minister for Europe.   She is known for her views against holding a referendum on the European Reform Treaty

Years ago there was a controversy shrouding  Kinnock on tax evasion declaring that he is a not a resident of Denmark and thus not subject to Danish taxes while at the same time Thorning-Schmidt declared, in an application for dispensation for Kinnock to own property in Denmark, that he resides in Denmark "every weekend of the year from Friday through Monday.  Last year, however  Danish tax authorities acquitted the couple and allegations and investigations of tax evasion were dropped.  Recently, decision from SKAT surfaced in the Danish newspaper B.T and it turned out that Thorning-Schmidt from 2000 to 2008 had made use of tax deductions given to her husband, even though he was not subject to Danish taxes and had no income in Denmark. The mistake was fixed by SKAT for the three years from 2006 to 2008, and Thorning-Schmidt paid back the money gained by the mistake. She was however able to keep the gain for the six years from 2000 to 2005, because the case was outdated.  

So soon there would a woman at the helm of affairs at Christiansborg !

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.