Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, on Wednesday, called an early general election for November 1, with her left-wing block neck and neck in the polls against the right and far-right.
“I have today informed the queen that elections to the Folketing (parliament) will be held,” the Social Democratic leader told a press conference.
In office since June 2019, Frederiksen had to call elections by June 2023, under the Danish system.
But she had faced an ultimatum from a small party propping up her minority government demanding that she call elections before parliament’s first debate on October 6.
Recent polls give the “red bloc” of several left-wing parties, led by the Social Democrats, between 47 and 50 per cent of the vote, compared to 49 to 50 per cent for the “blue bloc,” which includes the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party and three nationalist right-wing parties.
In terms of seats, neither bloc has a majority in Denmark’s parliament, without the support of overseas MPs from Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
AFP
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