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Over half of Danes want Frederiksen as PM in new poll

More than one in two Danish voters prefers incumbent Mette Frederiksen as their choice for prime minister, a new poll has found.

Published: 12 September 2022 17:04 CEST
Over half of Danes want Frederiksen as PM in new poll
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during events to mark Queen Margrethe's jubilee this weekend. Frederiksen has seen an upturn in poll numbers. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

In a poll conducted by Voxmeter on behalf of news wire Ritzau, 52.5 percent said Frederiksen was their preferred candidate for prime minister.

That compares favourably for Frederiksen with an earlier poll from the week before last, in which 48.7 percent said they wanted Frederiksen as government leader.

Earlier this summer, a poll showed that the ‘red bloc’ of allied parties on the left of Denmark’s centre, led by Frederiksen’s Social Democrats, no longer had an overall majority after a long period of sustained superiority over the rival conservative ‘blue bloc’ alliance.

READ ALSO: How likely is Denmark to have a general election ahead of schedule?

Respondents to the poll have three options to choose from: Frederiksen and two conservative party leaders, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen of the Liberal (Venstre) party and Søren Pape Poulsen of the Conservatives, both of whom will run in the next election as prime ministerial candidates.

Rumours in the late summer pointed towards an election being called by Frederiksen in the early autumn. That has yet to materialise, but conservative party leaders on Monday released a joint declaration urging the PM to call the election.

The centre-left Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) party has also demanded an election by October.

A general election can take place as late as June 4th 2023, but political manoeuvring suggests it will happen prior to that date.

Frederiksen’s improved performance in the latest poll may be a result of the publication by the Conservatives of their “2030 plan”, an economic manifesto which an analyst said “made it easier for Mette Frederiksen to paint a picture of what Danes will get with a conservative government”.

“The Prime Minister has made a strong return from the summer holiday, partly by presenting more policies, but also by going on the offensive, especially against Søren Pape Poulsen and the Conservatives’ economic 2030 plan,” the analyst, Casper Dall of Avisen Danmark, told news wire Ritzau.

Damaging political issues including the outcome of an inquiry into the 2020 mink scandal left Frederiksen and the Social Democrats bruised going into the summer break.

The poll gives Poulsen 33.6 points among voters, compared to 35.2 percent in the prior poll.

Ellemann-Jensen gets the support of 14.2 percent, a fall-off from the previous 16.1 percent.

The Conservatives have meanwhile seen backing from voters decline from 16.5 percent to 15.1 percent, while for the Liberals it has increased from 11 to 13.8 points.

Poulsen has received negative press in recent days after Danish media reported that his husband, Josue Medina Vasquez Poulsen, is not the biological nephew of the former president of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina Sánchez. That conflicted with earlier information given by the couple. Poulsen subsequently issued an apology over the matter.

He was also reported to have participated in an unsanctioned meeting with Dominican Republic officials when Justice Minister in 2018. The meeting took place without the knowledge of the Danish Foreign Ministry, according to the reports.

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SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

EXPLAINED: How immigration speech has split Denmark’s Social Democrats

A speech about immigration and integration, given by a member of Denmark’s ruling Social Democrats in parliament, has caused an uproar among local party representatives but the party leadership, including Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, is sticking to its guns.

Published: 25 April 2024 17:03 CEST
EXPLAINED: How immigration speech has split Denmark’s Social Democrats

Internal dispute within Denmark’s Social Democrats has gained pace and drawn comments from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, after one of the party’s MPs recently made a divisive speech in parliament.

Frederik Vad, who is the immigration spokesperson with the party, the senior partner in the coalition government, said earlier this month during a speech in parliament that Denmark’s immigration debate had to make an “admission”.

“That is an admission that work, education, a house, participation in associations and a clean criminal record are not enough on their own if you are also using your position to undermine Danish society from within,” Vad said.

“A parallel society is no longer a housing area in [underprivileged area] Ishøj. A could alos be a table at the canteen in a state agency or a pharmacy in [affluent] North Zealand,” he said, using the term used to refer to areas of the country subject to special integration laws.

To qualify as ‘parallel societies’, housing areas must have a population of more than 1,000 people, of which more than half are of “non-Western” origin, and must fulfil two of four criteria. For areas with fewer than 50 percent ‘non-Western’ populations, another term – ‘vulnerable area’ – is used instead.

The comments have received criticism from local Social Democratic politicians, initially more junior politicians such as town councillors and later gaining momentum with some city mayors speaking out against Vad, as reported by broadcaster DR.

“Frederik Vad is stigmatising a large part of the population that consists of well-educated, well-integrated and active citizens who contribute to Denmark every single day,” Musa Kekec, a Social Democratic member of the municipal council in Ballerup, told DR.

“We do not appreciate it. It is creating a new myth that integration has failed and that it’s no longer good enough to get an education, speak Danish, contribute to society and have a job – more is required,” he said.

Kekec is one of 18 elected local Social Democratic officials to have sent a letter to the party leadership earlier this week, objecting to Vad’s position.

“It’s important for us to show that we disagree with the rhetoric and suspicion being spread on the part of Frederik Vad,” Kekec said.

The internal conflict over the issue between parliamentary and local Social Democratic politicians is unusual in a party known for a culture in which all members loyally stick to the course set out by party leadership.

Merete Amdisen, the mayor of Ishøj – the municipality singled out by Vad in his comments – was the first mayor to publicly reject them, but several others have since added their voices to the dissent.

“I think you should think very carefully when you speak about people who go to work every single day, look after their children, integrate themselves in society and take part in our associations, in fact do everything we want them to, and who we also happen to need on our labour market,” Gladsaxe mayor Trine Græse told DR.

“I was actually offended – not personally, because I’m not in the target group. But when I heard what he said, I thought ‘that’s not a nice thing for him to say’,” she said.

“Christiansborg politicians should use their powerful voices with consideration and respect for others. Generalisations and pointing the finger at citizens with a different ethnic background as potentially dangerous are the wrong way to go,” the mayor of Furesø, Ole Bondo Christensen said.

In comments earlier this week, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said there was “full support” for Vad from the party leadership.

“There is an ongoing immigration debate within the Social Democrats and in Denmark, but the Social Democrats stand firm on the immigration policy that is currently being pursued in Denmark,” the PM told DR.

“I do not see any stigmatising comments from Frederik. I think he does a good job of pointing out that — of course — you cannot speak generally about everyone. On the contrary, many [immigrants] are doing very well. But those who, for example, commit crime, violence, or are members of [Islamist organisation] Hizb ut-Tahrir, are against our democracy. That is a lack of integration and we must then be able to discuss it,” she said.

Vad has not presented any data to support the claim that people of non-Western immigrant backgrounds with high levels of education and employment are involved in activities of the kind described by Frederiksen.

The junior Social Democratic MP defended his comments by saying they were not a deviation from the existing party line.

“That line is that we have a few problems in some pockets of our society with some people who are educated, have a job and a clean criminal record, yet bring some values ​​with them to work which are problematic,” he said to DR.

“It makes me sad if there are people in the party who think I said something wrong. Personally, I don’t think I have. I made a nuanced statement,” he said.

“People who make an effort, work their socks off, and integrate [into society] with their children should receive nothing but respect and equality,” he said.

“But the people who insist on bringing a culture of honour to work, or who don’t think you need to subscribe to women’s freedom and equality to be part of this society, should see nothing but a hammer falling,” he said.

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