Danish leader shuffles cabinet in wake of storm over Goldman Sachs deal
Danish leaderannounces sweeping changes in wake of bank deal that saw coalition collapse
Denmark's prime minister announced a sweeping cabinet reshuffle after her coalition collapsed over a deal involving US investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Six ministers from the leftist Socialist People's Party left Helle Thorning-Schmidt's government last week over the controversial sale of a stake in state- controlled utilities giant DONG Energy to a group of investors led by the bank.
The deal sparked an outcry few had anticipated amid fears Goldman Sachs could use tax havens to administer their holding in DONG and claims that the investment bank had been given unusually favourable terms.
In a country of 5.6 million people, just under 200,000 have signed a petition protesting against the sale of the company to a bank that has become a popular symbol of Wall Street excess after one US journalist dubbed it "the vampire squid".
In the new cabinet, former Minister of Climate and Energy Martin Lidegaard was named foreign minister and Morten Oestergaard, the former minister for higher education and research, was named tax minister.
"We have put Denmark on a better track than it was on 2½ years ago," Thorning-Schmidt said at a press conference.