I've mentioned New Alliance here before; the party of Syrian-born Naser Khader, who entered parliament on last month's general election with the self-declared aim of breaking up the governing bloc and reduce the influence of the right-wing Danish People's Party on the government coalition of centre-right Liberals of PM Rasmussen and Conservatives.
Khader's party has said it would support Anders Fogh Rasmussen in exchange for, among other things, a milder refugee policy, which inevitably irked the Danish People's Party- Denmark's third-largest and a staunch anti-immigration party.
Last-minute upsets gnawed at Khader's popularity in the run-up to the election, and although he now holds some influence over the future direction of the government, he has not achieved the kingmaker status he would have hoped to in the first place.
But it's not Khader who's making the news right now but a fellow member of his New Alliance - 64-year old Jørgen Poulsen, former secretary general of the Danish Red Cross, who decided to run for parliament on the NA list and who, at the start of the campaign, pledged to leave the Red Cross should he be elected to parliament - since the Red Cross is, as one would expect, an apolitical body.
Up until the election Poulsen was an extremely highly regarded public figure - he was never shy to affirm his commitment to civic morality - all very Bertrand Russell, "without which communities would perish" - he was a true king of people's heart, a voice for the impoverished and downtrodden, a fighter for the rights of refugees.
Until the golden handshake came to the fore...
Well, it surfaced last week that Mr Poulsen is now claiming he did not just leave the Red Cross but was indeed fired - thus allowing him to get away with a 2-year wage severance package worth about 2 million kroner (just under £200K! - in the end he negotiated 750m kroner, approx. £70K).
Basically Mr Poulsen thought he could serve both God and Mammon; his political career lies in tatters and his former apolitical life is no longer, since he has crossed the Rubicon by affiliating himself with party-politics; not just any party-politics, but populist party politics...
Should you be wondering what that fuss is all about (and no wonder, since the average price of a home in the U.K. for instance now stands at £230,474, unless you live in some parts of Berkshire where one will cost you well above £400k!) let me stress that Transparency International puts Denmark alongside Finland as the least corrupt country in the world;
There are obviously no figures available for moral corruption.
(P.S. I'm happy to say Poulsen didn't manage to trick everyone all of the time; a few years ago a newspaper run a feature long bio in which he was asked why - after being grassed by a disgruntled employee who knew better or a really shrewd journalist - he always started his day by reading the business and stock exchange section of the news; he replied that he wanted to be in touch with what was going on in the world; the article also mentioned he was often interrupted at meetings by telephone calls from his personal stockbroker...)
(P.P.S. Almost forgot to say Poulsen's recent biography is called, ironically, "Storyteller"; and that he arrived in Parliament today dressed as Santa - his role at his new job's Christmas party... I wonder what sort of presents he was carrying in his bag...?)
Khader's party has said it would support Anders Fogh Rasmussen in exchange for, among other things, a milder refugee policy, which inevitably irked the Danish People's Party- Denmark's third-largest and a staunch anti-immigration party.
Last-minute upsets gnawed at Khader's popularity in the run-up to the election, and although he now holds some influence over the future direction of the government, he has not achieved the kingmaker status he would have hoped to in the first place.
But it's not Khader who's making the news right now but a fellow member of his New Alliance - 64-year old Jørgen Poulsen, former secretary general of the Danish Red Cross, who decided to run for parliament on the NA list and who, at the start of the campaign, pledged to leave the Red Cross should he be elected to parliament - since the Red Cross is, as one would expect, an apolitical body.
Up until the election Poulsen was an extremely highly regarded public figure - he was never shy to affirm his commitment to civic morality - all very Bertrand Russell, "without which communities would perish" - he was a true king of people's heart, a voice for the impoverished and downtrodden, a fighter for the rights of refugees.
Until the golden handshake came to the fore...
Well, it surfaced last week that Mr Poulsen is now claiming he did not just leave the Red Cross but was indeed fired - thus allowing him to get away with a 2-year wage severance package worth about 2 million kroner (just under £200K! - in the end he negotiated 750m kroner, approx. £70K).Basically Mr Poulsen thought he could serve both God and Mammon; his political career lies in tatters and his former apolitical life is no longer, since he has crossed the Rubicon by affiliating himself with party-politics; not just any party-politics, but populist party politics...
Should you be wondering what that fuss is all about (and no wonder, since the average price of a home in the U.K. for instance now stands at £230,474, unless you live in some parts of Berkshire where one will cost you well above £400k!) let me stress that Transparency International puts Denmark alongside Finland as the least corrupt country in the world;
There are obviously no figures available for moral corruption.
(P.S. I'm happy to say Poulsen didn't manage to trick everyone all of the time; a few years ago a newspaper run a feature long bio in which he was asked why - after being grassed by a disgruntled employee who knew better or a really shrewd journalist - he always started his day by reading the business and stock exchange section of the news; he replied that he wanted to be in touch with what was going on in the world; the article also mentioned he was often interrupted at meetings by telephone calls from his personal stockbroker...)
(P.P.S. Almost forgot to say Poulsen's recent biography is called, ironically, "Storyteller"; and that he arrived in Parliament today dressed as Santa - his role at his new job's Christmas party... I wonder what sort of presents he was carrying in his bag...?)
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