Mette Frederiksen’s leftwing bloc has failed to win majority in Danish election, exit polls suggest | Denmark
Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats and Denmark’s other left-leaning parties failed to garner enough votes to gain a clear mandate to form a government in elections held amid geopolitical tensions with the United States over Greenland.
The prime minister’s party appeared to have won the most votes, but still won, according to two exit polls released shortly after voting stopped on Tuesday evening. performed worse than expected, with an estimated 19%-21% of the vote.
If approved, the Social Democrats and other left-leaning parties that make up the “red bloc” will be far from a majority in the 179-seat parliament. But the right-leaning parties of the so-called “blue bloc” also fell short, putting foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the leader of the non-aligned centre-right Moderates, in the spotlight as a possible kingmaker.
Official results are expected to be announced late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Denmark currently faces weeks of coalition talks, after which another centrist coalition or centre-right coalition looks likely to emerge.
Frederiksen’s chances of a third term as prime minister did not look good after the election. disastrous municipal elections In November his party suffered a serious blow across the country and lost control of Copenhagen for the first time in more than 100 years.
The 48-year-old actor called for early elections last month, hoping he would “benefit”.greenland splash“In response to Trump’s threats to invade the largely autonomous region, which is part of the Danish kingdom, in January”
“I know I’ve been a little blunt at times,” the Prime Minister said during a recent campaign event. “But given the times we live in, maybe it’s good that there are some things that can’t be misunderstood: Russia shouldn’t be allowed to win, or Greenland shouldn’t be for sale.”
On Tuesday, Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, called the vote for the Danish parliament the most important in the Arctic island’s history.
“We are in a period where there is a superpower trying to take over, take over, control us,” Nielsen told AFP. “They want to do this, so we’re still in a very tense situation.”
On Tuesday, Frederiksen met with Greenlanders living in Aalborg, where he said he could never imagine that as prime minister I would “defend you against anyone from the outside.”
He added: “For all of us involved, whether as Greenlanders who felt threatened, or as Danes who felt a strong sense of solidarity – or in my case, as someone who had to stand at the forefront, we will never forget the time we had together.”
He said Greenland had been subjected to “completely unreasonable and unacceptable pressure” by the US, adding: “But you stood firm and did so with a grace, determination and strength that the rest of the world greatly admired.”
Despite making international headlines, Greenland was unable to dominate the election, which was largely contested over domestic issues; They included the Social Democrats’ commitment to a “wealth tax” to fund smaller classes in primary schools, the cost of living crisis, the tightening of Denmark’s already strict immigration laws, animal rights and clean drinking water.
The wealth tax, a 0.5% tax on assets owned by a person worth more than 25 million kroner (about £3 million), has been welcomed by many on the left. But things went wrong for Denmark’s super-rich.
Henrik Andersen, CEO of wind turbine giant Vestas, said “enough is enough” and suggested that he could leave the country if the implementation was implemented. Shipping magnate Robert Mærsk Uggla, chairman of Maersk and chief executive of AP Møller Holding, said it would be “detrimental to Denmark”.
Rasmussen’s role is likely to be critical in the coming weeks. On the eve of the election, Rasmussen said he did not want to be prime minister, a post he had held twice before, but the role of “royal inspector”, which entails helping to form a government and is usually held by the person who becomes prime minister.
A veteran of the political scene, Rasmussen is nevertheless cultivating his man-of-the-people image and recently told Euroman magazine that he sometimes uses hand soap instead of toothpaste and likes to smoke his pipe in bed “if I have a sore throat or if I’m sick.”
