euro|topics - A neck-and-neck race in Denmark

Main focus of Tuesday, November 13, 2007

A neck-and-neck race in Denmark

The Danes elect a new parliament today. According to the latest election forecasts, it's a close race between Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's liberal-conservative coalition and the social democratic electoral alliance led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Naser Khader's newly founded New Alliance party has not yet taken sides.

Göteborgs-Posten - Sweden

The daily predicts that Anders Fogh Rasmussen's liberal-conservative government coalition will win by a slim majority, "but its lead has shrunk and it looks like the government will be forced to pull off a trickier balancing act than ever before. So far it has relied on the support of the right-wing populist Danish People's Party, but now it seems it will have to depend on the new centre party, the New Alliance, for support. A further problem Fogh Rasmussen faces is the New Alliance's insistence that he resign after the election to open the way for political negotiations. Only once these negotiations have concluded would he be allowed to return to his post. The head of government's original intention when he called early elections was to be able to govern in peace. Now this peace is by no means guaranteed." (13/11/2007)

Dagbladet Information - Denmark

The newspaper sees the likelihood of an election victory for the liberal Venstre Party led by current Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen diminishing: "For six years Anders Fogh Rasmussen's great advantage has been that he had virtually no opposition in the Folketing [the Danish parliament]. The opposition lacked the power to weaken the government under its own steam. ... In this election campaign, the much disparaged new leader of the Social Democrats, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has managed to unite the three parties [Social Democrats, the Socialist People's Party and the radicals]. ... It's therefore very possible that tonight we will not only witness the end of the liberal-conservative majority and thus the end of an era in Danish politics, but also the last time Anders Fogh Rasmussen runs in an election campaign." (13/11/2007)

La Vanguardia - Spain

Isidre Ambrós analyses the role of the New Alliance party founded last May by Naser Khader. "A year and a half after the crisis triggered by the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, which opposed Denmark and the Muslim world, who would have thought that five and a half million Danes will now have to decide upon the future of a Syrian-born Danish man who has become the government's main guarantee in his country ? ... According to polls, he will obtain between 5 and 9 seats and will thus be able to have his own parliamentary group. This figure will allow him to achieve his aim of becoming indispensable for the stability of Danish politics, by replacing the far-right Danish People's Party (DF). For, without actually being part of the government, the DF decisively influences its action. The best demonstration of this is the very harsh immigration policy practised in this country." (13/11/2007)

Hufvudstadsbladet - Finland

Björn Mansson explains: "Once again it was foreign policy that dominated the election campaign. When the two main contenders, Fogh Rasmussen and his [Social Democrat] challenger Helle Thorning-Schmidt, faced each other in a TV debate on Sunday evening both held up Finland as a shining example, and to a certain extent they were right. Asylum-seekers are allowed to work here even if their applications are rejected, but only until the ruling enters force. Therefore it's questionable whether our model really is that liberal. However, other important issues were ignored in the Danish election campaign." (13/11/2007)

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, November 13, 2007

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