Liberal leader to release travel expenses

Lars Løkke Rasmussen has bowed to pressure and will voluntarily release details of his travel expenditure in connection with foreign trips taken as chair of the Global Green Growth Institute, GGGI. This is according to Seven59.dk.

The Liberal leader posted a message on Facebook, Tuesday, stating that he’s now prepared to make all invoices, chits, flight costs and hotel expenses available to the public at a press conference on Sunday in Copenhagen, which will also be attended by Director-General of the GGGI, Howard Bamsey.

All requests to see the paperwork had previously been rejected by Liberal Party leadership who claimed it was against GGGI’s own internal rules.

Over DKK 1 million

Mr Løkke Rasmussen, who’s consistently maintained that he’s abided by all GGGI guidelines, says:

”There is, naturally, a great deal of interest in the activities I carry out for GGGI. I have nothing to hide but I needed to know the answers myself before I could provide them. Therefore I contacted the head office in Seoul last weekend who are now working flat-out to provide a complete overview of the trips I’ve taken and the total costs.”

Løkke has been subject to major controversy over trips he has taken to various parts of the world over the past 15 months have cost, which have cost the GGGI over DKK 1 m, including DKK 776,000 on first-class air tickets. The Social Democrats and Social Liberals have cast doubts on Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s judgment, and ability to head the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in the wake of the controversy.

Danish article here.

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

Like us on Facebook for features, guides and tips on upcoming events. Follow us on Twitter for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories. Sign up for the University Post weekly newsletter here.