Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10COPENHAGEN47
2010-01-28 09:43:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Copenhagen
Cable title:  

(SBU) PM ON DEFENSIVE OVER HEALTHCARE ISSUES

Tags:  PGOV DA 
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DE RUEHCP #0047 0280943
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 280943Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5452
UNCLAS COPENHAGEN 000047 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV DA
SUBJECT: (SBU) PM ON DEFENSIVE OVER HEALTHCARE ISSUES
(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--NOT FOR INTERNETDISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS COPENHAGEN 000047

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV DA
SUBJECT: (SBU) PM ON DEFENSIVE OVER HEALTHCARE ISSUES
(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--NOT FOR INTERNETDISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Opposition paries attacked PM Lars Loekke
Rasmussen on healthcre issues during a January 20 parliamentary
hearng, putting him squarely on the defensive. They bame him for
hospital job cuts and suspect him of manipulating members of the
Public Accounts Committee. The opposition is determined to keep
pressure on the PM, while expectations build that he must now
articulate his "own agenda" to define his government's policy
priorities. END SUMMARY.

OPPOSITION BLAMES PM FOR JOB CUTS
--------------


2. (SBU) The center and left opposition parties appear to have
chosen health sector issues to push the PM and the Government onto
the defensive. The PM was pointedly questioned at length on
hospital issues during the so-called "Question Hour" -- a weekly
session in Parliament where members can pose questions to ministers
-- on January 20. Although managing the budgets for hospital
services in Denmark is entirely the responsibility of the country's
five regional authorities, the opposition appeared to succeed in
pinning some of the blame on the PM for hospital lay-offs in some
regions.

OPPOSITION ASKING: INTERFERENCE WITH LEGISLATIVE BRANCH?
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) The PM was summoned to appear before parliament's Finance
Committee on January 21 to respond to questions about a report
released June 17, 2009, by the Auditor General. That report
concluded that Rasmussen, while serving as Minister for Health in
2006, failed to use properly his authority to lower the prices
demanded by private hospitals for surgery carried out for the public
hospitals. The Auditor General's report left the
Folketing-appointed and traditionally non-partisan Public Accounts
Committee divided for the first time in 17 years; the
representatives of the two Government parties -- the Liberals and
the Conservatives-- dissented from the conclusions. (NOTE: Just as
the Ombudsman is the Danish democracy's watchdog against abuse of
government power, the Public Accounts Committee is considered an
equally important cornerstone of Danish democracy as the principal
watchdog against the misuse of government funds.)


4. (SBU) The PM opened the hearing by announcing he had nothing to
add to previous responses given to similar questions about the
report on several occasions since last June. He was quickly
challenged and asked to explain an e-mail exchange showing that two
high-level civil servants in the PM's Office were aware on June 16
(the day before the Auditor General's report was released) that the
two government parties' representatives on the committee would
dissent on adopting the report. The opposition claimed that the
e-mail was evidence that not only had the PM's Office been given
advance notice of the report's conclusions of a report prepared by
the Auditor General on behalf of parliament, but that the two
dissenting committee members had also been persuaded to do so by the
PM's Office. This would represent an unprecedented executive branch
interference with the work of the legislative branch and of a
traditionally consensus-driven committee.


5. (SBU) During the four hours of questioning on this and other
issues related to the June report, which was broadcast live, the PM
became increasingly frustrated. During questioning by the media
after the hearing, he appeared uncomfortable and unable to provide a
clear answer as to whether he had been informed in advance of the
Public Accounts Committee members' dissent.

(SBU) EXPECT MORE PARTISAN SNIPING
--------------


6. (SBU) COMMENT: The political momentum is with the opposition at
the moment. The Liberals and the Conservatives appear deeply
divided on the need for welfare reform, and the Danish People's
Party (on whose support they depend, though not an official part of
the Government) continues to press the PM to present his own agenda
and show where he wants to take the country, not simply rely on the
programs he inherited from the previous Prime Minister. For now,
the opposition parties are succeeding in putting the PM on the
defensive and making him appear to have a hard time controlling his
temper. The PM will try to regain the initiative later this week
when he hosts a three-day seminar on the status of Danish public
schools, but the opposition is likely to keep finding ways to chip
away at him, including on the private hospitals issue. However,
they risk overdoing it: Danish voters do not like to see their
political leaders humiliated.

FULTON