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The left-wing bloc, led by Danish Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, won parliamentary elections in Denmark on Tuesday but fell short of a majority, according to projections based on partial results. The centrists find themselves, therefore, in the position of kingmakers.
Centrists find themselves in the position of arbiter following Tuesday’s parliamentary elections in Denmark, where Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s left-wing bloc appears to have lost a majority, according to projections based on partial results.
With 16 or 17 seats in the 179-seat Danish Parliament, former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s new centrist Moderate party appears to be king of the seats, behind the left-wing four-party bloc led by Mette Frederiksen (84 or 85). seats) and the bloc of right-wing and far-right parties (74 or 75 seats), according to estimates broadcast by public television channels ‘DR’ and ‘TV2’.
“It’s not about red or blue, it’s about common sense,” Løkke Rasmussen said on the night of his success, vowing to “build bridges.” “The prime minister wants a comprehensive government, because she wants to be prime minister again. It’s possible, but what we know for sure is that Denmark must have a new government,” added the man who is making a remarkable comeback from being prime minister. on two occasions (2009-2011 and 2015-2019).
Towards a long negotiation
With just 2% voting intention two months ago, his party would finally exceed 9%, after refusing to join one of the two traditional blocs during the campaign.
The lack of a clear majority augurs long negotiations and a possible recomposition of Danish politics, following Mette Frederiksen’s appeals to the center and the right at the beginning of the campaign.
At the moment, the most likely option seems to be the renewal of the Social Democratic leader, but the appearance of a new centrist or even right-wing prime minister cannot be excluded.
The Social Democrats would fare well in the elections with about 28% of the vote, compared to 25.9% in the previous 2019 elections.
If the results are confirmed, “we face a difficult situation for future negotiations,” summarized Thorkild Holmboe-Hay, head of the Social Democratic Party. “At first glance, it seems that there are issues where we can compromise, but we have to be very careful in discussions with Mr. Løkke Rasmussen, who is a clever strategist.”
The overseas countries (Greenland and the Faroe Islands), which would give, according to projections, three seats to the left and one to the right, and could also prove crucial.
mink crisis
Early voting was triggered by the “mink crisis”: a party supporting the minority government had threatened to overthrow it if it did not call elections to ensure voter confidence following the decision, later declared illegal, to cull the huge herd of minks of the country to combat the coronavirus.
Inflation, at its highest point in the last 40 years, high energy prices and the health system had dominated the polls.
In a country that has defended strict immigration policies for more than two decades, including within the Social Democratic Party of Mette Frederiksen, the elections were also marked by a shake-up between the anti-immigration right-wing populist parties, which were divided into three rival parties.
The Danish People’s Party (DF), which hovered above 20% until a few years ago, fell to between 2.5% and 2.9%, its worst result since it entered Parliament in 1998.
A new party founded by former immigration minister Inger Støjberg, the Danish Democrats, would win with 9.4% and 17 mandates.
*With AFP; adapted from its French version
