After dramatic Danish election: Prime Minister Frederiksen resigns Twelve weeks in prison for London police officers for racist chatter

After a dramatic election night, Denmark faces the search for a new government. Despite a last-minute majority for the left-wing camp around their ruling Social Democrats Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen handed over the resignation of her minority government to Queen Margrethe II on Wednesday.

In doing so, she wants to pave the way for exploring the possibilities of the broad government she pursues with parties from both political blocs. Such a form of government is rare in Denmark – but according to Frederiksen it is the right choice given the current crises.

Best election result in 20 years

The Social Democrats were again clearly the strongest force in the elections with 27.5 percent. They had their best election result in 20 years, Frederiksen told party supporters early Wednesday morning in Copenhagen. But: “It is also clear that there is no longer a majority behind the government in its current form.”

If a majority of the parties elect her as an exploratory commissioner, she will examine whether a broad-based government can be formed. Such a constellation would be good for Denmark, confirmed Frederiksen.

The Scandinavians had previously experienced one of the most dramatic election nights in their history. Forecasts and forecasts had long indicated that neither the red, left-wing nor the blue, center-right coalition would gain a majority.

Last minute election victory

At the time, the key role between the blocs was in the hands of former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen with his new centrist-liberal party, The Moderates. After all the votes cast in the country were counted, the picture tilted to the left at the very last moment: The red block rose to 87 seats, while the blue block jumped to 72, while Løkke’s moderate had 16.

90 of the 179 seats are needed for a majority in the Danish parliament in Copenhagen. 175 of these mandates are in Denmark, two in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which are officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Faroese mandates were already split between the two blocs on Monday. As with the last six elections, the two Greenland mandates went to the red bloc early Wednesday morning after nearly all votes had been counted. The left camp should receive exactly 90 mandates.

Frederiksen’s goal: broader government over the political center

During the election campaign, however, Prime Minister Frederiksen emphasized several times that she strives for broad government cooperation across the political center. However, a red majority should now resolutely improve its negotiating position in this regard: if the moderates from Løkke who are between the blocs or parties of the blue bloc do not respond to their demands in the possible negotiations, they could exert great pressure with the prospect of reopening instead to set up their red camp.

These left-wing parties already support Frederiksen’s previous purely social-democratic minority government in parliament. In some cases, such as her strict immigration policy, Frederiksen often relied on votes from the right. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there was also cooperation between the blocs in the military field, and recently there was also cooperation in supporting the Danes in the fight against soaring energy prices.

A central question in future government negotiations will be to what extent Frederiksen can cooperate with her predecessor Løkke. He was prime minister from 2009 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019. He left the liberal-conservative party Venstre in 2021 after decades. After that, Løkke founded the moderates, who will now be the third strongest force on their debut with a preliminary 9.3 percent of the vote.

By contrast, Venstre, which leads the centre-right alliance, lost heavily: after 23.4 percent in the last elections in 2019, Løkke’s ex-party was only 13.3 percent this time around. However, it remains the second strongest force behind Frederiksen’s Social Democrats.

Top representative of Danish supporters party resigns

The leader of Radikale Venstre, a left-liberal party, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, announced on Wednesday that he would stop the position of party leader. The election results clearly show that there is no confidence in them. Therefore, she cannot continue in her previous position. Radical Venstre has always been a supporter of the government.

Carsten Nielsen had made sure that the elections were already held in Denmark – actually there would have been time until June 2023. In the summer, however, she had issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to call the elections, which were linked to the scandal. surrounding the mass murder of millions of minks bred for fur production during the corona pandemic. This practice was punished by voters on Tuesday: The radicals lost more than half of their votes, falling from 8.6 percent in the last election in 2019 to just 3.8 percent.

(con/dab/sda/dpa)