Party leader asks for patience as Danish wait for new government goes on
With 12 days having passed since Denmark’s negotiations over a new government began, the leader of one of the involved parties has asked for the public’s patience.
Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Socialist People’s Party (SF) wrote on social media to ask for Danes’ forbearance.
“I hope you will be patient for a while yet – and I hope that we can find the foundations for a new centre-left government,” Dyhr wrote on Facebook.
The SF leader also said she could understand if it seemed to observers as though those responsible for the negotiations were beginning to sound repetitive.
“I’d be the first person to say that it’s not fun, after a long election campaign with full steam ahead on political visions, to suddenly have to tread water every day on the way in and out of the meeting room (for negotiations),” she said.
“But we can’t really do things any other way right now, and we can hopefully soon be much more specific,” she added.
After winning an overall majority in the June 5th general election, the left-of-centre group of ‘red bloc' parties, including SF, must now agree on a platform on which to back Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen as the new prime minister.
On Monday, negotiations between the four parties – the Social Democrats, Social Liberals, SF and Red Green Alliance – were temporarily put on hold. That gave Dyhr time to reflect on progress so far, the SF leader said.
“We agree on many things – first and foremost, our overall direction – but when we get into specifics, things get more difficult. There is always progress, but also obstacles,” she wrote without revealing further detail.
The parties appear to be close to agreement on welfare and climate, Ritzau writes, with the Social Liberals advocating a markedly different approach to the economy to the other parties.
Meanwhile, all parties apart from Frederiksen’s Social Democrats want a more accommodating approach to refugees and immigration. The Social Democrats have said they will “broadly” continue the approach of the outgoing government.
It is unknown whether negotiations will continue on Tuesday, Ritzau reported Monday evening.
READ ALSO: Refugees to childcare: Five issues that could thwart talks to form Danish government
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Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Socialist People’s Party (SF) wrote on social media to ask for Danes’ forbearance.
“I hope you will be patient for a while yet – and I hope that we can find the foundations for a new centre-left government,” Dyhr wrote on Facebook.
The SF leader also said she could understand if it seemed to observers as though those responsible for the negotiations were beginning to sound repetitive.
“I’d be the first person to say that it’s not fun, after a long election campaign with full steam ahead on political visions, to suddenly have to tread water every day on the way in and out of the meeting room (for negotiations),” she said.
“But we can’t really do things any other way right now, and we can hopefully soon be much more specific,” she added.
After winning an overall majority in the June 5th general election, the left-of-centre group of ‘red bloc' parties, including SF, must now agree on a platform on which to back Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen as the new prime minister.
On Monday, negotiations between the four parties – the Social Democrats, Social Liberals, SF and Red Green Alliance – were temporarily put on hold. That gave Dyhr time to reflect on progress so far, the SF leader said.
“We agree on many things – first and foremost, our overall direction – but when we get into specifics, things get more difficult. There is always progress, but also obstacles,” she wrote without revealing further detail.
The parties appear to be close to agreement on welfare and climate, Ritzau writes, with the Social Liberals advocating a markedly different approach to the economy to the other parties.
Meanwhile, all parties apart from Frederiksen’s Social Democrats want a more accommodating approach to refugees and immigration. The Social Democrats have said they will “broadly” continue the approach of the outgoing government.
It is unknown whether negotiations will continue on Tuesday, Ritzau reported Monday evening.
READ ALSO: Refugees to childcare: Five issues that could thwart talks to form Danish government
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