Danish Parties Begin Talks on Forming a Government

STOCKHOLM: Danish political parties began talks today on the formation of a coalition government, two days after elections, in which the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party’s (DPP) emerged as the country’s second-biggest force, local media reported.

Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre party began consultations today morning, after being tapped by Queen Margrethe II to form a government, replacing the previous centre-left cabinet of outgoing premier Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

“We will begin speaking with all parties represented in parliament, starting with the DPP,” said Rasmussen, who is seeking to assemble a coalition of all three rightist parties that together won a majority in Thursday’s vote.

Rasmussen was selected to head the new government despite Venstre finishing in third place with 19.5 per cent, behind Thorning-Schmidt’s Social Democrats and the DPP.

It is still unclear whether the anti-immigrant, eurosceptic DPP, which polled 21.1 per cent, would accept a position in a Rasmussen-led government.

Party leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl has previously warned the party would not join a cabinet unless it could effectively influence policies.

Following his meeting with Rasmussen today, Thulesen Dahl told Danish press agency Ritzau the effort to form a majority government remained “difficult.”

The DPP, which campaigned on tighter immigration rules, higher pensions for low-income earners and more money for healthcare and the elderly, has given previous conservative governments parliamentary support.

But Danish analysts said with the DPP now constituting the second-largest legislative block, Rasmussen needed to bring the party into his cabinet to avoid having to seek its backing on each new piece of legislation.