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Danish opposition unable to force Great Prayer Day referendum

Opposition parties in the Danish parliament will not be able to force through a referendum over the government’s plan to abolish the Great Prayer Day holiday after two parties declined to back the motion.

Published: 27 February 2023 17:27 CET
Danish opposition unable to force Great Prayer Day referendum
People protest the government plan to scrap Great Prayer Day earlier in February. The bill looks likely to pass in parliament after an opposition move to force a referendum on the issue failed. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

Two opposition parties – the Socialist People’s Party (SF) and Liberal Alliance – confirmed on Monday they will not join other opposition parties who say they want a referendum to be held on the question.

The parties who have stated they are in favour are the Red Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), Danish People’s Party, Denmark Democrats and Alternative.

The bill to abolish Great Prayer Day will be voted on in parliament on Tuesday and now looks set to be passed.

Under the rules of parliament, votes from 60 MPs – a third of the total 179 seats – could have sent the bill to a referendum. The four parties can only muster 26 seats between them and therefore needed help from larger opposition groups.

Some opposition parties have been reluctant to support the referendum because of concerns it would result in a “slippery slope” whereby government policy increasingly becomes the subject of referenda.

Red Green Alliance and Danish People’s Party on Sunday stated they would not call for a referendum on any other point in the government’s policy platform, citing this concern as a reason for the clarification.

“I don’t understand why on one hand you can stand on the front line and say it’s stupid and awful to abolish Great Prayer Day, which I agree with, and on the other hand not give the public the opportunity to stop it,” Red Green Alliance lead political spokesperson Mai Villadsen said.

“It’s incredibly disappointing. And it leaves the other parties with shared responsibility for not stopping this,” she said.

The three coalition government parties – the Social Democrats, Liberals (Venstre) and Moderates – want to abolish the springtime public holiday in a move they say will enable increased defence spending to meet Nato targets by 2030, three years ahead of the current schedule.

A bill was tabled by the government in January.

The policy has met with criticism from trade unions, the church and opposition parties, while the military has also distanced itself from the plan. Thousands of Danes took part in a demonstration against it outside parliament earlier this month.

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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.

Published: 24 June 2024 13:10 CEST
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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