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Danish government: Rasmussen backs coalition with traditional rivals

The leader of the centrist Moderate party, Lars Løkke Rasmussen says he says a potential coalition involving his party and traditional rivals the Liberals and Social Democrats as an ‘excellent’ basis for a new government.

Danish government: Rasmussen backs coalition with traditional rivals
Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Jakob Engel-Schmidt of the Moderate party as talks to form the next government continue in Copenhagen. Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

Rasmussen commented on the potential outcome after talks on Thursday, which focused on climate, environment and conversion to green energy.

“That would actually be a majority government. It shouldn’t be much smaller if we want to have a majority, but this would be an excellent basis,” he said.

READ ALSO: Have talks to form new Danish government gone quiet?

Rasmussen is in favour of a centre coalition involving parties from the traditionally opposing ‘red’ and ‘blue’ blocs or left and right wings.

A government including the Social Democrats, led by incumbent Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and the Liberals (Venstre), led by Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, would fit with this.

While Frederiksen also wants to work across the centre, the Liberals rejected such a coalition during the election campaign, saying they wanted a more conventional ‘blue bloc’ or conservative government.

Ellemann-Jensen now appears to be coming under pressure from his own party and other conservative parties to reconfirm his position.

That comes after suggestions he could be willing to work with Frederiksen after previously saying he “didn’t trust” the incumbent PM as a result of the 2020 ‘mink scandal’ for which her government was strongly criticised and received official rebukes.

A coalition between the two parties and Rasmussen’s Moderates – which have not declared alignment with either bloc or specified a preferred PM – would have 86 seats.

That would give a one-seat majority in the 179-seat parliament if the four North Atlantic mandates from Greenland and the Faroe Islands are not included in the calculation. The North Atlantic mandates usually fall 3:1 in favour of the red bloc.

The three parties took the three largest vote shares in the November 1st election.

However, an agreement between the parties does not appear to be particularly close.

Both Ellemann-Jensen and Rasmussen have described the current talks as being more informal in nature than full negotiations.

A national congress in the Liberal party this weekend could help the party to form consensus over whether to change its approach to a potential government with Frederiksen, according to Rasmussen.

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POLITICS

Denmark’s Social Democrats overtaken by left-wing ally in new poll

The Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) has become the party with the most support in Denmark for the first time in a new opinion poll.

Denmark’s Social Democrats overtaken by left-wing ally in new poll

A new poll from Voxmeter places SF as Denmark’s largest party, should it be replicated in an election vote, with an 18.8 percent share of the vote.

The Social Democrats, traditionally the largest party on the left, received 18.4 percent in the poll. That represents a large drop in support compared to the 2022 general election, when the Social Democrats gained 27.5 percent and went into coalition government with two parties on the right of centre.

The poll result for SF gives it a share 8.3 percent larger than it gained in 2022 and continues the centre-left group’s recent success after becoming the largest Danish party in the EU parliament in the EU elections this month.

Speaking on EU election night, SF leader Pia Olsen Dyhr said the party’s excellent result could be used as a “catalyst” for a new political landscape in Denmark.

The EU election result can fuel further gains for SF when the next general election comes around, Dyhr said in the midst of her party’s celebrations.

“There’s an alternative to this government. There’s an alternative that wants [more] welfare and [to do more for] the climate and we are willing to deliver this in the EU parliament,” she told broadcaster DR.

“It gives us a tailwind and enthusiasm for the party and it means people will be even more ready for local elections next year and the general election further ahead,” she said.

READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: Is left-wing party’s EU election win good news for foreigners in Denmark?

Another notable observation from the poll is that is the worst for the Social Democrats since the 2022 election and since Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen became the party’s leader in 2015.

In 2013, when former leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt was prime minister, the party’s polls dropped as low as 15.8 percent, but they recovered after Frederiksen took over to win the 2019 election.

The other two parties in the coalition government – the Moderates and Liberals (Venstre) – are also struggling in opinion polls.

The new poll gives the Liberals 9.7 percent – compared to 14.7 percent at the EU election and 23.5 percent in 2019.

For the Moderates, the 6.5 percent polling is better than the 5.9 percent achieved by the party in the EU election, but less than the 9.3 percent it gained in 2023.

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