Danish PM presents new cabinet

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt presented her new cabinet of 23 ministers here on Monday. Thorning-Schmidt, who is now officially Denmark's first female Prime Minister, presented the ministers to Queen Margrethe II at a closed-door ceremony at Amalienborg Castle, the queen's official residence, in Copenhagen. A coalition of center-left parties won Denmark's 2011 general elections on Sept. 15, thereby ending a decade of government by center-right parties. The Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by Thorning-Schmidt, is the biggest of the center-left parties, and has formed the new minority government in coalition with the Social Liberal Party (SLP) and the Socialist People's Party (SPP). The new cabinet is composed of 23 ministers, 11 of whom are from the SDP, and six each from the SLP and the SPP. Among the key posts, SPP Chairman Villy Soevndal becomes the new Minister for Foreign Affairs while SLP Chairman Margrethe Vestager gets the prized post of Minister for Economy and Internal Affairs. Bjarne Corydon of the SDP is Minister for Finance, while his party colleagues Morten Boedskov and Nick Haekkerup are Minister for Justice and Minister for Defence, respectively. Moreover, Corydon, Minister for Europe Nicolai Wammen (SDP), Minister for Culture Uffe Elbaek (SLP) and Minister for Development Cooperation Christian Friis Bach (SLP), are parliamentary freshmen, having been elected to hold national office for the first time on Sept. 15. Two of the appointed cabinet ministers, namely Minister for Climate Martin Lidegaard (SLP) and Minister for Taxation Thor Moger Pedersen (SPP) are not members of parliament. Nine of the ministers are women and 14 are men. The average age of the ministers is 43 years old. The new government marks several firsts. This is the first time Denmark has a coalition government of the SDP, the SLP and the SPP, with the SPP being in government for the first time. Tax Minister Pedersen, 26, is the youngest ever minister in cabinet, while 59-year-old Soevndal is the oldest cabinet minister. Meanwhile, Manu Sareen (SLP), Minister for Ecclesiastical and Gender Equality Affairs, who was born in India, becomes Denmark's first minister with an immigrant background. Monday morning's meeting with the Queen followed 16 days of negotiations between the coalition partners to draw-up the so-called 'regeringsgrundlag' or, working policies for the new government including a draft budget, cabinet ministerial posts and what these entail in detail. Outside the main gates of Amalienborg, a crowd of several hundred people had gathered to witness the historic changeover of power. Many in the crowd waved flags, while other carried flowers. A roar of cheers went up as Thorning-Schmidt and her ministers emerged after their meeting at around 10:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT). While several ministers arrived by car, the Social Liberal ministers chose to arrive by bicycle instead, eliciting warm cheers of approval from the crowd.