2024-07-21 21:09:31
The pace of work in the Danish Parliament is often frenetic, with sessions lasting more than 15 hours, negotiations that end early in the morning, or a new law with hundreds of pages that political parties have to review in a weekend. In recent years, the Folketing Chamber has become a breeding ground for trouble, with a difficult working environment to endure. The list of MPs who are on leave due to stress and anxiety affects all parliamentary groups, as well as staff who work in the Chamber.
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A year ago, the case of the former Minister of Defense and leader of the party Venstre (liberals), Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, set off all alarms when he resigned from his position and withdrew from public life because of trouble. Since then, the speed of work in Parliament has been the subject of frequent debate in the Nordic countries, because, beyond the health of those working in the Chamber, there is concern about the democratic quality of the decisions made by politicians. through the work.
A report from the consultancy firm Justitia has recently revealed that neither politicians nor civil servants can continue with the House’s legislative process, a “very worrying” fact, the report concluded. “This leads to poor legislation, with unintended consequences when the law is applied, which can be avoided if the legislative process is thorough and efficient,” writes Birgitte Arent Eiriksson, director of Justitia.
The report notes that Parliament is increasingly passing more legislation in a shorter period of time. As an example of this increase, last year the parliaments had to review 21,336 pages of laws and decisions, “which means that representatives do not have time to read them or understand the consequences of the rules they accept,” said Eiriksson. In particular, in the first week of the current Government, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen presented 11 proposed laws that the opposition parties have to examine within a weekend, also with the intention to reform the reforms, a practice that has occurred more than once. during parliament.
Another problem that the report pointed out It is a number of committees similar to congresses that representatives have to attend. In total, 179 MPs sit in Christianborg Palace and have to fill 800 committee positions. This means that, in parliamentary groups with few representatives, the task of attending and participating in all committees is impossible. Deputy Jeppe Søe, from the Moderates party (16 representatives), explained on the public channel DR that it is common for members of parliament to attend one committee while listening to a debate taking place in another through headphones. “It is physically impossible to go to three councils at the same time, and therefore fulfill all parliamentary tasks,” Søe pointed out. The deputy spoke about his experience after suffering a panic attack in which he had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital while on vacation.
Other recent cases of troubled representatives have been that of a spokesperson for the Green Left, Jacob Markwho was one of the first politicians to speak publicly about this problem after he had lost his sight due to the problem, or Alex Vansplagh, spokesman for the Liberal Alliance. In Vansplagh’s own words, his life “hit rock bottom” when he became number one in his parliamentary group at the age of 28.
Add pressure from social media
The work of the Folketing is concentrated from Tuesday to Thursday for 30 weeks a year, in which 100 sessions are held. According to the study authorized by the Congress deskthe 57 state representatives spend an average of 57 hours per week for their duties in the parliament, of which 20 hours are spent at Christiansborg headquarters.
But beyond meetings, conferences, meetings with civil organizations, legislative work, and attention to the press, the Justitia report also points out. to the use of social networks as another key factor that makes politicians fall into trouble. “The communication of political messages through networks has become an important part of the daily lives of parliamentarians,” the statement said. “Social networks are taking more time of legislators, who are already exposed to work pressure.” This pressure is exemplified in a statement by deputy Jeppe Søe: “Advisors tell you that if you want to be re-elected you have to say something every time, you must not be at the negotiating table without taking a selfie.”
For Helene Helboe Pedersen, a political scientist at Aarhus University, it is clear that parliaments “have many tasks and there is not enough time to fulfill them all, if we add time that politicians used to appear at the same time. in who participates in the legislative process, the net is difficult for anyone to hold.” In a discussion with elDiario.es, Pedersen also pointed out that “if the time to make the law is not big and the politicians do not have time to read what the civil servants write, the risk of making mistakes is high.” The political scientist gave an example: “During the COVID-19 crisis, the Prime Minister ordered the slaughter of millions of minks without knowing that the decision had no legal authority, there was no time to see that a law was approved”.
Work less to reduce stress
The Speaker of the Chamber, Søren Gade, is one of the advocates of improving working conditions in the Folketing. He himself suffered the consequences of stress when he held the position of Minister of Defense until 2010. “It is not useful if you have 179 representatives on the verge of collapsing due to stress, there is no doubt that the speed of politics is too. high, and this “doesn’t benefit anyone.” Gade said..
Days before the House was closed for recess this summer, all parties agreed to push some reforms in the work program of the Parliament. Among the measures, it has been agreed to increase the period of days that can pass from the time a bill is presented until it is approved, which until now was 30 days and will now be 40. In addition, the period will continue for the period. Opposition parties can present amendments: so far they have two days and it will be seven. How to reduce the parliamentary committees is also being studied, which can be reduced from 30 to 15.
Regarding these reforms, political scientist Helene Helboe Pedersen believes that “it is a necessary and important step for politicians to change so that their work can be more meaningful and important.” “I don’t know if the proposed measures will eliminate the problem, I don’t think so,” said Pedersen. “But I think it is important that there are exceptions for the amount of time that politicians need to prepare for a meeting, for example,” he concluded.
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