Danish rightwing leader asked to form government after Frederiksen fails to form coalition | Denmark
The King of Denmark has asked a centre-right politician to try to form a new government after prime minister Mette Frederiksen failed to put together a ruling coalition.
The announcement on Friday night shook the political establishment as Frederiksen has been a staple of Danish politics for decades. His left-leaning party, the Social Democrats, won the majority of votes in parliamentary elections in March.
But despite winning the most votes, this was the Social Democrats’ worst electoral performance since 1903, with no party securing a majority.
Frederiksen has since tried to form a left-leaning government with the support of Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s centre-right moderates. He is seen as the decision maker, as he sits halfway between Frederiksen and Troels Lund Poulsen, head of the centre-right liberal party.
But Frederiksen has struggled to garner support from Denmark’s increasingly fragmented parties, and on Friday night the country’s former foreign minister, Rasmussen, threw his weight behind Poulsen by withdrawing from the talks.
King Frederik then asked Poulsen to try to form a new government. On Friday, the king issued a statement. expression It is requested that Poulsen “lead the negotiations with a view to forming a government” without the participation of the Social Democrats and moderates.
Poulsen will be tasked with leading a coalition of right-wing parties to form a new government; This is a delicate process that can take weeks. Already the attempt to form a government has been the longest in Danish history.
Danish politics is becoming increasingly distorted Right In recent years, many right-wing parties have seen gains in the March elections. The traditional far-right party, the Danish People’s Party, performed particularly strongly, tripling its votes compared to the last election to 9.1%.
Immigration has become a hot topic in Denmark, as in other European countries, and even left-leaning parties have adopted stricter policies on immigration control.
The King’s statement stated that the Danish People’s Party supported Poulsen, provided that the new government “has the clear goal of implementing measures that will lead to a net migration of Muslims from Denmark”.
After a meeting with the king on Friday afternoon, Frederiksen said the possibility of a right-wing coalition governing Denmark was increasing.
Frederiksen said: “Composed by the Danes [parliament] So much so that a right-wing government can definitely be established. “What we’re seeing now may actually be the beginning of that.”
Frederiksen is known for leading Donald Trump’s attempt to seize Greenland by resisting intense pressure and threats from the US administration. But Frederiksen performed much worse on domestic issues such as taxation and immigration.
Analysts said that although Frederiksen was in decline, he was not out. If Poulsen cannot form a coherent coalition among Denmark’s right-wing parties, the Prime Minister may return with his own coalition.
