Former leader of Danish far-right party to quit at next election
Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the former leader of the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party, announced on Friday that he will not run for re-election with the party in 2023.
Dahl confirmed his decision to Denmark’s Radio4 on Friday, citing internal disputes in the party as the reason for his departure.
He did not rule out running at the next election with a different party, however.
“There has been so much going on in recent years and I hoped it had ended when I stepped down as leader in January. But it hasn’t stopped. It keeps on going,” he told Radio4.
The former leader of the Danish People’s Party (DF), who was a co-founder of the party in the 1990s and became its front figure in 2012, resigned after the party was trounced in November’s local elections.
He was replaced by Morten Messerschmidt at a party congress in January, but several DF members of parliament subsequently left the party, saying they would not work under Messerschmidt.
READ ALSO: Is the Danish People’s Party chaos a sign of far-right party’s impending collapse?
Dahl said that a discussion between himself and Messerschmidt over which spokesperson roles would be assigned to the ex-leader were part of the reason for his decision to leave parliament. Too much of the discussion was conducted publicly, according to Dahl.
The party leadership has publicly speculated in recent weeks as to whether additional spokesperson posts would be given to Dahl, who currently is responsible for defence.
“This is not the decisive factor in whether I continue in the parliamentary group, but it’s an indication that even here there’s no desire to build confidence by talking to each other, but instead about each other,” he said.
Dahl said he would remain a DF party member until the next general election, which will take place next year.
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Dahl confirmed his decision to Denmark’s Radio4 on Friday, citing internal disputes in the party as the reason for his departure.
He did not rule out running at the next election with a different party, however.
“There has been so much going on in recent years and I hoped it had ended when I stepped down as leader in January. But it hasn’t stopped. It keeps on going,” he told Radio4.
The former leader of the Danish People’s Party (DF), who was a co-founder of the party in the 1990s and became its front figure in 2012, resigned after the party was trounced in November’s local elections.
He was replaced by Morten Messerschmidt at a party congress in January, but several DF members of parliament subsequently left the party, saying they would not work under Messerschmidt.
READ ALSO: Is the Danish People’s Party chaos a sign of far-right party’s impending collapse?
Dahl said that a discussion between himself and Messerschmidt over which spokesperson roles would be assigned to the ex-leader were part of the reason for his decision to leave parliament. Too much of the discussion was conducted publicly, according to Dahl.
The party leadership has publicly speculated in recent weeks as to whether additional spokesperson posts would be given to Dahl, who currently is responsible for defence.
“This is not the decisive factor in whether I continue in the parliamentary group, but it’s an indication that even here there’s no desire to build confidence by talking to each other, but instead about each other,” he said.
Dahl said he would remain a DF party member until the next general election, which will take place next year.
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