Criticism continues to pour down on Culture Minister Zenia Stampe (R) following Thursday's edition of 'The Debate'. There, she ended up in a heated discussion about artificial intelligence with entrepreneur Martin Thorborg.
The two discussed Thorborg's use of artificial intelligence in writing his new autobiography during the debate program.
The Culture Minister says in 'The Debate' that only "a twentieth" was written by Thorborg himself - and Zenia Stampe also calls the entrepreneur "not very smart" and "overconfident".
- It's trained on my fucking material. You don't know a damn thing about it, Thorborg retorts, among other things.
Clips from the debate have filled social media over the past week - and the Culture Minister's behavior has drawn criticism. Among others, from retired badminton star Viktor Axelsen, who calls Zenia Stampe's behavior "embarrassing".
Most recently, however, the debate has ended up in a completely new place - namely on a question of when it is appropriate to send Section 20 questions to a minister.
---------------------------------
What is a Section 20 question?
---------------------------------
* All members of the Danish Parliament can ask a minister a question about their stance on or perception of a public matter.
* Rules for these questions are described in the rules of procedure's Section 20, hence the term Section 20 question.
* Section 20 questions can be asked for either oral or written answers.
* Oral answers to questions take place during question time in the Parliament chamber. The written answers can be seen on the Parliament's website.
Source: The Danish Parliament
Now, Liberal Alliance's social and cultural spokesperson Katrine Daugaard wants Zenia Stampe's answer on whether the badminton star's criticism has made an impression on the Culture Minister, who is also the Minister for Sport.
- It is criticism of the minister, and he is a former athlete in her area, says Katrine Daugaard.
Therefore, Daugaard has submitted a Section 20 question to the Culture Minister - and subsequently shared a screenshot of it on social media.
- That he (Viktor Axelsen, ed.) does not think she acts in accordance with the values of sport, I would like to hear her own opinion on that.
- And that is the point of a Section 20 question - namely to get the minister's opinion on something, says the LA politician.
See the discussion between Stampe and Thorborg in the clip below.
-----------------------------
'Misuse of Parliament's time'
-----------------------------
However, not everyone thinks Katrine Daugaard's methods are appropriate. The Moderates' political spokesperson Mohammad Rona accuses Daugaard of "misuse of Parliament's time".
Last year, Djøfbladet sparked a debate about what it takes to answer a Section 20 question. It was stated that the questions put "the civil service under serious pressure".
It is this workload that Mohammad Rona criticizes.
- I think it is exploiting the democratic tools we have. It doesn't make sense to ask in that way - understood in the sense that it is a private individual who wrote a post (Viktor Axelsen, ed.), says Mohammad Rona.
- I don't know what she gets out of it - except a nice post, he says.
But that criticism is "completely ridiculous", according to Katrine Daugaard.
- The Culture Minister is responsible for sport. This criticism comes from an athlete who doesn't think she behaves in accordance with the values of sport.
- Therefore, I don't think it is any different to ask the Culture Minister to address it than when you ask other ministers to address someone who has criticized their area. It is completely normal, says Daugaard.
------------------------------------
Axelsen: Stampe's behavior was embarrassing
------------------------------------
Viktor Axelsen does not wish to elaborate on his criticism of the Culture Minister to DR News.
On Facebook, Axelsen writes that he "saw the debate, and I honestly think Zenia Stampe's behavior was embarrassing".
- The tone, body language, and the way she handled the situation were, in my opinion, far below what one should be able to expect from a minister, writes Viktor Axelsen in the post.
In the clip below, you can see how the host of 'The Debate', Clement Kjærsgaard, gives the participants a dressing down at the end of the program:
Axelsen refers in his post to the fact that the Culture Minister is also the Minister for Sport.
- That performance and the lack of self-reflection afterwards do not represent the values I associate with Danish sport. When you are responsible for Danish sport, you should be able to live up to the values we expect of those on the field, Axelsen continues.
According to Zenia Stampe herself, the overall criticism of her performance is misguided and leaves a misleading picture of her during the debate.
- It is no worse or more heated than the panel debates you sit through during an election campaign at a high school. They are also no more heated than a debate in the British House of Commons. It is part of the political culture, the Culture Minister has previously stated to DR News.
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.