Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s brand new party, the Moderates, will be the buffer between the Social Democrats with Mette Frederiksen and the Liberal Party with Jakob Ellemann-Jensen in Denmark’s first centrist government in 44 years. Now is the big question. What does the government declaration look like? What issues have they agreed on? Those answers will not come until Wednesday, but will be followed closely by political commentators and analysts. It can mean a lot for how capable of governing such a central government will be. There will also be a lot of attention on who will hold the various ministerial posts. The greatest tension is probably linked to former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s role in an SME government. That list will be presented on Thursday, said Acting Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday evening. And to make it clear right away: A center government, or “government over the middle”, as the Danes call it, is nothing new in Denmark. They’ve tried it once before. It went terribly badly. Why should it be better now? When Mette Frederiksen called for new elections on 5 October, she surprised many by saying that she wanted a broad government in Denmark. There were new measures from the social democratic prime minister. ELECTION: Mette Frederiksen when she announced the election in Denmark on 5 October. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe / NTB The words were not entirely different from what Lars Løkke Rasmussen had said when he was prime minister three years earlier. At the time, his attempt at a government in the center of Danish politics was rejected by both his own party colleagues, at that time in the Liberal Party, and opponents in the Social Democrats. Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the bourgeois bloc lost the election. The internal settlement in the party Venstre afterwards ended with Rasmussen opting out. But a lot can happen in three years. What was seen as a desperate rescue operation for one’s own skin in 2019, turned into something that would be “good for Denmark” in 2022. That was how Mette Frederiksen formulated it in her speech on election night. At the same time, Lars Løkke Rasmussen had spent the years after withdrawing from Venstre to create a new Danish party. A very clear centrist party, more towards the center than the Liberal Party has ever been. He wanted to show that the vision from 2019 was possible. Løkke from 0 to 9. VICTORY SPEECH: Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s new party The Moderates became Denmark’s third largest party in the election on 1 November. Photo: Ritzau Scanpix Claus Bech / NTB The election campaign and the election this autumn must be said to have been a giant boost for Lars Løkke’s new party. From being around the blocking limit, at 2 percent, when the election was called, the Moderates ended up as Denmark’s third largest party, with 9.3% of the vote. Together with the Radikale Venstre and Socialdemokratiet, the parties that had said before the election that they wanted a centrist government nevertheless did not reach a majority. Mette Frederiksen could find a majority elsewhere. In a unified red block. But that would mean governing with the support of the far-left parties Alternativet and Enhedslisten. As well as at the mercy of three North Atlantic mandates. Little of this sounds like a “broad government”, which is what Frederiksen wanted. AT THE CASTLE: Mette Frederiksen is driven out of Amalienborg after handing in her resignation after the election on 1 November. On the same day, she was appointed as head of negotiations and has since worked to find the basis for a government in the centre. Photo: RITZAU SCANPIX / Reuters Then she was appointed as head of negotiations – or “royal investigator”, as it is so nicely called in Denmark. Among those who pointed to her was precisely Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The election result had not given him the tipping point that he had probably most hoped for. But he was still able to manage his ambition to gather Danish politics in the centre. Similar and different to the 70s The prerequisite, or justification, for forming a central government now is very similar to the situation in Denmark the last time it was attempted: In 1978. There was a crisis in Denmark. Cold War in the world. Inflation was increasing when, as now, the electricity price quadrupled in a short time. Fuel, food, clothes, in short, everything became more expensive. And on top of that, unemployment increased. Much can be recognized in 2022. And then as now, the Danish political landscape experienced a tornado. Established parties have had to hand over voters to newly started parties and the number of party flora in Denmark is record high (14 parties entered a list for the general election – 12 won a place). The situation in the 70s is similar: CHANGES: Mogens Glistrup and the Progress Party ensured major political upheavals in Denmark in the 70s. After the 1973 parliamentary election, the number of parties had gone from five to ten. Among the new parties were Mogens Glistrup and the Progress Party. A party that must be called ultra-liberal, which would change the entire political system and abolish income tax. The party became one of Denmark’s largest, but the established governing parties, Venstre and the Social Democracy, would do everything in the world to keep them out of power. Therefore, Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen turned to Venstre’s chairman Henning Christoffersen and they formed a government above the middle. Often referred to as the “worker-peasant government” (Venstre was originally a peasant party) or simply the “SV government”. But the parties were unable to keep their pace together. They simply did not trust each other. So-called shadow ministries were created, so the parties had an overview of what was going on in the ministries they did not govern themselves. After fourteen months there was a stop. Then the parties disagreed on what was actually in the government agreement and Anker Jørgensen continued as prime minister only with ministers from the Social Democrats. PREVIOUS ATTEMPT: Social Democrat Anker Jørgensen tried to lead a centrist government in Denmark in 1978–1979. It lasted 14 months and was characterized by great disagreement and internal conflict. Photo: Bjørn Sigurdsøn / NTB Broader agreement now Let’s take what speaks for a centrist government to be more successful now: The parties have been negotiating for a very long time (42 days is a record in Denmark) and all three parties have been on board all the way. Two of the parties that were left at the end (the Social Democrats and the Moderates) went to the election for a centrist government. This is not something two party leaders have come up with, but is better rooted in the parties. The Liberals have spent a lot of time finding support for a centrist government in the party. MINISTER’S RESIDENCE: Marienborg is the representative residence of the Danish government. The negotiations have taken place here ever since 4 November – the longest government negotiation in Danish history. Photo: OLAFUR STEINAR GESTSSON / AFP But it has not only been a dance on roses until a new government in Denmark. Especially not for the Left. And we still can’t avoid the Mink case this time either. The criticism that Mette Frederiksen ordered the killing of all Danish mink, without legal authority for this, during the corona pandemic in 2020 was the backdrop for her having to call new elections with nine months left in the election period. Change of mind about mink Both the Liberals and the Moderates were clear in the election campaign that they wanted a lawyer’s assessment of Mette Frederiksen’s role in the mink case. Such an assessment could form the basis for an impeachment case against the sitting Prime Minister. TURNED AROUND: Both the Moderates and Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the Liberals and Jakob Ellemann-Jensen reversed themselves on the question of a legal investigation into the Mink case, just before it was to be heard in the Folketing. Especially in Venstre’s hinterland, this has been heavily criticised. Photo: Sergei Grits / AP But in the rush of the negotiations, both the Moderates and the Liberals turned 180 degrees. Venstre’s chairman, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, stated, among other things, that it would be wrong to start a government collaboration with a legal investigation of the prime minister. Especially in the Liberal Party, this change created a lot of frustration. The Liberals, as the original farmers’ party, were among the clearest critics of Mette Frederiksen’s handling of the Mink case, before they sat down at the negotiating table. The question is what concessions the Liberals have received in the government’s foundation that enables them to agree to this. The center party that disappeared In the closing stages of the government negotiations, the Radikale Venstre also withdrew from the negotiations. The party itself has considered that they belong to the political center of Danish politics. But the climate and child and youth policy did not meet the goals for the party, which has been a support party for Mette Frederiksen since 2019. OUT: Martin Lidegaard became chairman of Radikale Venstre immediately after the election and Sofie Carsten Nielsen resigned as chairman. In the final sprint of the negotiations, Lidegaard said “thank you for us” and left the negotiations. Photo: Philip Davali / NTB Cooperation is now limited to a verbal agreement to “not bring down the government”. In the new political landscape in Denmark, the question is how long that promise will last. The government will consist of the Social Democrats, the Left and the Moderates. These three parties have a total of 89 mandates and therefore need support from at least one more mandate. They can find that, for example, in the three North Atlantic social democratic mandates. So on paper a minority government. But for all practical purposes a majority government. So which issues have been difficult? There is little doubt that where the parties are farthest apart, especially the Liberals and the Social Democrats, is in economic policy. But the government’s first goal will probably be to stay longer than the fourteen months the previous center government was in power.
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Lars Løkke Rasmussen managed what he was laughed at for proposing three years ago – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
