Denmark’s prime minister wants to resign for now, despite narrow electoral success

Danish Prime Minister Fredriksson announced his resignation despite a narrow electoral victory and now seeks to form a new government. In a thrilling election evening, the left-wing coalition around Fredriksen won a majority with a lead of just one seat.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksson has announced her resignation despite the electoral success of her Social Democrats. Friedrichsen said at night, she wants to try to form a new government with broad cross-party support. She had indicated this intention even before the election.

It is clear to them that the current form of government no longer has a majority, Fredrickson explained. Therefore, she will submit her resignation to Queen Margaret II on Wednesday. She will then meet representatives of other parties for exploratory talks.

Mini Majority for Left Coalition

Prior to this, the centre-left coalition around Fredriksen’s Social Democrats had secured a possible minimum majority in last-minute parliamentary elections. After counting all the votes cast in the country, the Left camp still managed to get 87 seats, which were likely to be a majority during the night.

The coalition of liberals, conservatives and right-wing populists known as the “Blue Bloc” won 73 seats. Former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen’s Moderate Party enters parliament for the first time with 16 MPs.

Extrapolation by the TV2 station had already predicted a number of 87 seats, which is significant for Fredriksen, late in the evening, after the final votes were counted, the value at the DR station also jumped from 86 to 87 seats. Tears of joy flowed in the electoral party of the Social Democrats.

Voice Breakthrough of the Faroe Islands and Greenland

In Copenhagen, 90 out of 179 seats are required for a majority in the Danish parliament. Of these, 175 mandates are given in Denmark, two each in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which are officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Faroese mandate had already been split between the two blocks on Monday. In the early hours of Wednesday, the two seats awarded in Greenland went to the centre-left camp, so Folketinget should have a wafer-thin majority of 90 of the 179 seats.

Fredrickson aims for wider government cooperation.

Fredriksen repeatedly emphasized during the election campaign that he was aiming for wider government cooperation at the political centre. A red majority should decisively improve its negotiating position in this regard.

If moderates between the bloc or the parties in the blue bloc in the middle-right blue bloc of former prime minister Lars Locke Rasmussen do not respond to her demands, she could instead put up a lot of pressure with the prospect of her going back to her red bloc instead. He already supports Fredriksen’s previous social-democratic minority government in parliament.

Fredriksson says thanks

Prime Minister Frederiksen commented on the election result late in the evening on online network Instagram with the word “thank you” and a photo that shows him smiling. When she arrived in Parliament with her husband after a long election evening, she told reporters, “I am very, very happy.”

“The results show that there is again a red majority in parliament,” explained the party leader of the losing Liberals, Jacob Allemann-Jensen, after the results were published. His party has suffered a loss of about ten percentage points as compared to 2019.

Apart from the fight against inflation, the major themes in the election campaign were mainly climate issues and health policy. About 50,000 people, including Fredriksen, took part in a climate march through Copenhagen on Sunday. Immigration played no part, with the EU country having a cross-party consensus on a restrictive immigration policy for a good 20 years.

New election in place of no-confidence motion

Fredrickson had brought the election forward to avoid a vote of no confidence in his minority government by an Allied party. The background was that Fredriksen removed all breeding mink in Denmark in late 2020 over fears of a coronavirus mutation.

The order proved illegal, leading to the resignation of a minister and a parliamentary inquiry. Rasmussen demanded that his role in the Frederickson scandal be investigated.