(03/09/10) -

Danish Liberals Fail to Climb Back to First Place

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The governing Left, Liberal Party of Denmark (V) still trails its main opponent, according to a poll by Megafon released by TV2. 22.2 per cent of respondents would vote for the ruling party in the next legislative election, practically unchanged since January.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The governing Left, Liberal Party of Denmark (V) still trails its main opponent, according to a poll by Megafon released by TV2. 22.2 per cent of respondents would vote for the ruling party in the next legislative election, practically unchanged since January.

The Social Democracy in Denmark (SD) remains in first place with 25.8 per cent. The Socialist People’s Party (SF) is third with 16.8 per cent, followed by the Danish People’s Party (DF) with 15.2 per cent, and the Conservative People’s Party (KF) with 11.4 per cent. Support is lower for the Radical Left-Social Liberal Party (RV), the Unity List-The Red Greens (EL), New Alliance (NA), and the Christian Democrats (KD).

In April 2005, Helle Thorning-Schmidt became the new leader of the Social Democrats, replacing Mogens Likketoft.

A legislative election took place in November 2007. The conservative Liberals received 26.3 per cent of the vote and secured 46 seats, followed by the Social Democrats with 25.5 per cent and 45 mandates. The ruling coalition—encompassing V, KF and DF—took control of 89 seats, one short of the 90 required to govern without the support of another political party. The NA, which won 2.8 per cent of the vote and five seats, joined the administration. Liberal leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen—who has served as prime minister since November 2001—retained his position.

In April 2009, Fogh Rasmussen was picked as the new secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as had been widely expected. Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who had been working as finance minister, took over as Denmark’s new head of government. They are not related.

In 2005, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten accompanied an article on censorship and freedom of the press with 12 cartoons depicting Muslim prophet Mohammed. Islam usually forbids depictions of Mohammed, as a measure to curb idolatry. In early 2006, several European newspapers and media outlets decided to re-print the cartoons. Public protests occurred in more than a dozen countries, and the embassies of Denmark and Norway in Syria—as well as the Danish consulate in Lebanon and an Italian consulate in Libya—were torched by mobs.

Earlier this year, Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, the artist who drew Mohammed with a bomb for a turban, was threatened by a man carrying an axe and a knife in his Aarhus home.

In late February, the Danish newspaper Politiken became the first publication to announce a settlement in the cartoon case, which includes a formal apology by the paper for publishing the drawings. Toger Seidenfaden, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, defended the decision to settle and apologize, saying, "The settlement looks ahead and expresses very sensible views. It may possibly reduce the tensions that have shown themselves to be so resilient. It gives us hope that relations between Denmark, and not least its media, and the Muslim world can be improved."

Social Democrat leader Thorning-Schmidt criticized Politiken, saying, "It’s crazy. The media carries offensive material every day. That is what freedom of speech is about."

Polling Data

What party would you support if there were elections to parliament tomorrow?