Four degrees, three degrees, two degrees Celsius… Every morning this week has been colder than the previous one. Not sure if we jumped straight into winter or simply forgot how cold the autumn can get. Anyway, soon enough we will be playing Christmas tunes on the radio, as time seems to warp as we approach the end of the year.
The beginning of October also marks the start of the political season. With an opening debate that goes well into the night, members of Parliament are back to work. So far we could only talk about proposals and ideas; eventually, we can actually mention legislation that has passed and will be implemented in 2025.
We are especially looking forward to the Finance Law 2025 to see what our tax money will be spent on next year. The debate around it should start soon, with a more defined agreement to be announced in the first days of December.
As you can imagine, the opening debate did not spare us the drama. Probably the most intense point of the debate has been a symbolic speech in Greenlandic made by Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam and the ensuing conflict with the president of Parliament, Søren Gade, who didn’t allow questions to the speech because it was not done in Danish.
The debate about the usage of Greenlandic and Faeroese in the Parliament of the Kingdom of Denmark has only just begun. We can expect, at least from the Greenlandic side, significant pressure to get the language recognized as a working language.
The drama did not stop there. The leader of Dansk Folkeparti, Morten Messerschmidt, used his opening speech to launch a personal attack against the leader of Moderaterne, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, effectively declaring war on him. His use of the opening speech was so unusual that virtually every party, with the exception of Konservative, boycotted the question round (it is customary to allow questions after a leader’s speech).
As most dramas have three acts, so did the opening debate. The political spokesperson from Enhedslisten, Pelle Dragsted, had to defend questions about the party’s links with terrorist groups. What was mentioned? Meetings between party representatives and the PFLP terrorist group, and providing meeting space for the Blekingegade Gang.
It’s been an interesting start to the political season, and it should only become more interesting, as we expect probably the most important showdown for our society: the discussion about pension age.
Thank you for reading and sharing Last Week in Denmark!
P.S. – Do you have a passion for harvesting your own produce? If yes, you will enjoy this link. And if you like wolves, you can see the ones we have in Denmark.
