Danish left-wing bloc leads election, lacks majority, exit polls show
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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is seeking a third term in power.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Denmark's left-wing parties are ahead of the right-wing bloc in the March 24 parliamentary election, according to two exit polls.
- Neither bloc is projected to win a majority in the 179-seat assembly, potentially leading to a hung parliament.
- The centrist Moderates and representatives from Greenland/Faroe Islands may determine which bloc forms the next government.
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COPENHAGEN - Denmark’s left-wing bloc led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen appeared ahead of right-wing parties in the country’s March 24 election, but exit polls showed she was falling short of a parliamentary majority amid a backlash over the cost of living crisis.
In power since 2019, Ms Frederiksen has benefited in recent months from her tough stance against US President Donald Trump over Greenland, but many Danes have grown weary of her focus on international affairs and accused her of neglecting domestic woes.
A poll from broadcaster DR and Epinion gave the left-wing bloc 83 seats against 79 for the right in the 179-seat assembly, the Folketing, while a TV2 and Megafon survey predicted 86 seats for the left and 75 for the right.
Partial results are expected later in the evening.
If official results confirm the outcome, Ms Frederiksen may struggle to form a Cabinet.
She may have to rely on deputies further to the right on the political spectrum or even on a handful of lawmakers from Greenland or the Faroe Islands, both semi-autonomous Danish territories.
This could give Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen’s non-aligned centrist Moderates the power to decide whether Ms Frederiksen’s left-wing bloc or its right-wing opponents form the next government. REUTERS
