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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her centrist coalition have been widely criticized by the opposition, trade unions, the country’s bishops and many members of her own party for proposing to scrap the spring public holiday.
The three-party government wants to abolish the holiday that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter and the so-called Great Day of Prayer, or the Great Day of Prayer. They say the money saved will be used to boost defense funding; official estimates say it will strengthen the structural general balance of around 3 billion kroner ($586.5 million Cdn) per year.
Workers in Denmark currently have up to 11 public holidays; figures are lower in years where Christmas and New Year fall on weekends. A Bill proposes the abolition of Great Day of Prayer holiday has been presented to the parliament there.
NATO spending targets
The government of the Social Democrats, center-right Liberals and center-moderates has only been in office since December 15 and the coalition aims to achieve the NATO target of spending two percent of the gross domestic product on the military budget by 2030. , in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, the loss of the holiday – created more than 300 years ago when the Danish bishops combined several minor holidays – has caused a strong reaction throughout Denmark, a country of almost six million people where more than 73 percent of the population belongs to the Lutheran State. Church, although less than three percent of people are regular churchgoers.
The trade unions, which are usually close to Frederiksen’s Social Democrats, have launched an online petition with more than 405,000 signatures to “send a clear signal to the government: Abandon the plan to eliminate. Great Day of Prayer.”
Denmark’s 10 Lutheran bishops have spoken out about a “breach of trust,” saying they were not consulted before the move.
opposition unity
In Denmark, where political consensus is the norm, the opposition – on the right and left of the centrist coalition – united in a rare move to criticize the government.
“The government is shutting us all down,” said Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the left-wing Social People’s Party that was once an ally of the Social Democrats.
Søren Pape Poulsen, head of the center-right Conservative, said “It is important for me to protect our culture, history and values and the deep roots of our society stand on,” and called the abolition “a mistake.”
‘Not true,’ the union said
Some employers who approved the government’s plan are concerned that it will be raised in negotiations over wages and working conditions between themselves and their unions. In Denmark, the government usually ignores the matter.
“It is not right for the government to remove public holidays or days off on all of our heads,” the union said. They have floated the idea of a referendum on the issue.
The government controls 89 seats in the 179-seat parliament and is supported by four MPs representing the semi-independent Danish regions of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands.
The first reading of the law to make the changes is set for February 2. The date for the third and final reading has not been announced. If passed, Great Day of Prayer will not be a public holiday from 2024.
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