Frederiksen begins negotiations for Denmark’s new government
Negotiations to form a new government were scheduled to begin at Prime Minister’s residence Marienborg on Friday, led by Mette Frederiksen.
Frederiksen told broadcaster TV2 she would lead negotiations beginning Friday after her government stepped down on Wednesday, paving the way for talks.
The Social Democrat leader met with Queen Margrethe to formally tender the current government’s resignation and recommend a dronningerunde or “Queen’s round.”
According to constitutional rules, each party leader must pay a visit to the queen at Amalienborg to ceremonially tell the Queen their pick for the “Queen’s investigator” to attempt to form a new government.
A majority of parties – the Social Democrats, Moderates, Socialist People’s Party (SF), Red Green Alliance, Social Liberals and Alternative – each nominated Frederiksen to lead the talks.
She told TV2 she would seek to form a government across the centre, in line with a pre-election pledge.
“What we will being doing, completely practically, is to invite all parliamentary parties and naturally also the North Atlantic mandates to Marienborg on Friday. The parties will be invited in order according to size,” she said.
“That means it will be an extra long working day,” she said.
READ ALSO: How two Greenland seats ensured last-minute Danish red bloc majority
Although ‘red bloc’ parties on the left took a one-seat majority of 90 seats at the election, Frederiksen said she would still seek to form a cross-centre government, which would signal a move away from the established bloc system.
Asked whether there were signs of progress to this end, she said “we must assess this as we go”.
“But in many ways, the voice of the election is clear. We need an acute plan for the Danish health system so we can reduce waiting times. We need a long-term plan for welfare, and must continue to work on the green transition,” she said.
“Voters have sent a clear signal that we should work together,” she told TV2.
Like the Social Democrats, the Social Liberal and Moderate parties both favour a central coalition government. The Moderates, led by former PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen, have not stated a preferred prime minister, however.
The left-wing SF, Red Green Alliance and Alternative parties each want a red bloc government.
A total of 12 parties were elected into parliament in Tuesday’s election. Each sent a representative to Queen Margrethe to nominate a “Queen’s investigator” (kongelig undesøger), to lead the talks to form a new government.
The opposing blue bloc Liberal (Venstre), Liberal Alliance, Nye Borgerlige and Danish People’s parties all nominated Liberal leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen as the Queen’s investigator.
Notably, the Conservative party leader Søren Pape Poulsen also nominated Ellemann-Jensen, effectively ending his failed run at the PM job.
Ellemann-Jensen thereby gained 58 mandates, well short of Frederiksen’s total.
The Denmark Democrats nominated their own leader, Inger Støjberg.
READ ALSO: Five things to know about the Danish election result
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Frederiksen told broadcaster TV2 she would lead negotiations beginning Friday after her government stepped down on Wednesday, paving the way for talks.
The Social Democrat leader met with Queen Margrethe to formally tender the current government’s resignation and recommend a dronningerunde or “Queen’s round.”
According to constitutional rules, each party leader must pay a visit to the queen at Amalienborg to ceremonially tell the Queen their pick for the “Queen’s investigator” to attempt to form a new government.
A majority of parties – the Social Democrats, Moderates, Socialist People’s Party (SF), Red Green Alliance, Social Liberals and Alternative – each nominated Frederiksen to lead the talks.
She told TV2 she would seek to form a government across the centre, in line with a pre-election pledge.
“What we will being doing, completely practically, is to invite all parliamentary parties and naturally also the North Atlantic mandates to Marienborg on Friday. The parties will be invited in order according to size,” she said.
“That means it will be an extra long working day,” she said.
READ ALSO: How two Greenland seats ensured last-minute Danish red bloc majority
Although ‘red bloc’ parties on the left took a one-seat majority of 90 seats at the election, Frederiksen said she would still seek to form a cross-centre government, which would signal a move away from the established bloc system.
Asked whether there were signs of progress to this end, she said “we must assess this as we go”.
“But in many ways, the voice of the election is clear. We need an acute plan for the Danish health system so we can reduce waiting times. We need a long-term plan for welfare, and must continue to work on the green transition,” she said.
“Voters have sent a clear signal that we should work together,” she told TV2.
Like the Social Democrats, the Social Liberal and Moderate parties both favour a central coalition government. The Moderates, led by former PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen, have not stated a preferred prime minister, however.
The left-wing SF, Red Green Alliance and Alternative parties each want a red bloc government.
A total of 12 parties were elected into parliament in Tuesday’s election. Each sent a representative to Queen Margrethe to nominate a “Queen’s investigator” (kongelig undesøger), to lead the talks to form a new government.
The opposing blue bloc Liberal (Venstre), Liberal Alliance, Nye Borgerlige and Danish People’s parties all nominated Liberal leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen as the Queen’s investigator.
Notably, the Conservative party leader Søren Pape Poulsen also nominated Ellemann-Jensen, effectively ending his failed run at the PM job.
Ellemann-Jensen thereby gained 58 mandates, well short of Frederiksen’s total.
The Denmark Democrats nominated their own leader, Inger Støjberg.
READ ALSO: Five things to know about the Danish election result
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