Coronavirus DK: Justification for lockdown questioned again

The tabloid B.T. has discovered an email message that throws further doubt (DK) upon Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s justification for locking down Denmark in mid-March. The email, which was sent from Søren Brostrøm, head of the Health Authority, only seven hours before Frederiksen’s historic announcement of the lockdown, recommends not closing schools and day care centers. It states that “children are not expected to cause a significant spread of the virus” and the negative effects of the closure would outweigh the positive ones.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Photo: Niels Christian Vilmann © Scanpix.

At the press conference, Frederiksen said that she was ordering the lockdown “on the recommendation of the authorities.” She has been questioned about the decision earlier. At a meeting requested by the opposition parties held on June 9, she reiterated that it was based on the recommendations of a “broad group of authorities” without specifying who or what she was referring to. The issue is important, says Sten Brønsing, Professor of Constitutional Law at Aalborg University, because ministers may not justify political decisions (DK) on the basis of recommendations of government officials if such recommendations have not been made.

Come clean, Mette
Now three opposition parties are demanding a clear explanation (DK): “We hope that she will realize on her own that it is reasonable to explain to the Danes why she said something that is not true,” says Peter Skaarup, leader of the Danish People’s Party parliamentary group. The effect of Frederiksen’s press conference was to “deceive the Danes,” continues Skaarup. “It cannot be interpreted otherwise.”

(Commentators have noted that both the administration and opposition parties have begun referring to the population as “the Danes” rather than “citizens” or “people.” Some have attributed populist, even subtly racist intentions to this usage, which might imply that a certain segment consists of real, ethnic Danes.)

Ratcheting up the rhetoric to “not honest”
The Liberal Party is demanding a written report (DK) from the prime minister and threatening to call for another investigatory meeting. “It is wrong that the prime minister in the beginning was not honest and did not say that this was a political decision,” says Karen Ellemann, the acting political spokesperson for the Party. “We have asked several times who had recommended [the lockdown].” The Conservative Party is also criticizing Frederiksen for not being forthcoming.

In none of these accusations did the opposition say that the lockdown was wrong or was a bad decision. They did not contain any evaluation of the administration’s lockdown policy itself or its consequences in comparison with results in countries that did not implement similar restrictions. The opposition pressured the government to relax restrictions earlier than it had planned, but Frederiksen has had a high approval rating in opinion surveys throughout the crisis.

She is away on vacation at present. Her office refers inquiries to the explanation given at the June 9 meeting. Parliament has appointed a commission that will evaluate the entire management of the coronavirus crisis.