Denmark's right-wing defence minister to lead government formation talks
The move follows 45 days of stalled coalition talks after a fragmented election left no bloc with a clear majority.
- On Friday, King Frederik X asked Defence Minister and Liberal Party leader Troels Lund Poulsen to explore forming a centre-right government following Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's failure to build a coalition after 45 days of negotiations.
- Denmark's March parliamentary election produced a fragmented 12-party assembly, leaving the Social Democrats with their weakest result since 1903, as talks stalled because Frederiksen could not align interests between leftist and moderate parties.
- Moderate Party leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen withdrew from negotiations Friday, stating "The mandate that Mette Frederiksen has is comes with a straitjacket that she cannot escape," a move that shifted the formation task rightward.
- Poulsen is now tasked with forming a government excluding both the Social Democrats and the Moderates, signalling a major shift to the right, with the Danish People's Party and Denmark Democrats pledging support.
- Analysts caution forming a centre-right government remains difficult, noting the King retains the option to reappoint Frederiksen, while prolonged negotiations have slowed decision-making and complicated efforts to resolve a diplomatic crisis over Greenland.
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61 Articles
Troels Lund Poulsen, leader of the center-right Venstre party, began talks to form a government in Denmark on Monday after the king gave him the mandate on Friday. Although the March elections were won by the Social Democrats, the result was effectively a stalemate, as no major bloc had a majority, and Frederiksen was trying to put together a centrist coalition. (We wrote more about this here.
Danish Liberal Leader Will Try to Form a Government
Bloomberg: “The head of Denmark’s Liberal party said he has a two-week deadline to form the country’s new government, after record-long talks were thrown off track last week.”“Troels Lund Poulsen took over coalition formation from caretaker Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen late Friday
Negotiations to form a government will start anew on Monday, after the Liberal Party leader was given the opportunity on Friday.
Negotiations on the composition of the new government have been historically long.
As government negotiations start anew, the Danish People's Party is trying to breathe life into a pure blue minority government. But according to election researcher Rune Stubager, the plan runs into one crucial problem: Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
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