Danish legislative Elections of 2007

The Danish anticipated legislative elections of 2007 took place the Tuesday November 13rd 2007.

Context

Electoral system

The 179 deputies of the Folketing, room single of the Danish Parliament, are elected via a mixed electoral sytème associating a poll proportional plurinominal within the framework of the district to a distribution by compensation. 175 seats are distributed between 3 areas: Copenhagen, the Jutland and islands. These 3 areas are subdivided in 3 urban districts and 7 rural districts. The number of seats allocated with each one of these districts, proportional to the number of its inhabitants, is re-examined every five years. 135 of these seats are reserves with the poll of district, the 40 others compensatory and being distributed between various political trainings making their entry at the Parliament with an aim of ensuring a representativeness to them as exact as possible. To reach the distribution of the compensatory seats, a formation must have obtained a minimum of seats in a given district or a number of votes higher or equal to the number of voices necessary to obtaining a seat in at least 2 of the 3 areas of the kingdom, or at least 2% of the votes cast at the national level. The voters have moreover a preferential vote, allowing them to express their preference for a candidate within the list for which they vote: the distribution of the seat within the lists thus takes place according to the preferential votes, the candidates elected being those having gathered the most preferential votes on their name. Lastly, 2 seats are reserves with the Faroe Islands and 2 others with the Greenland.

To present lists to the legislative elections, very party must be represented in Folketing at the time of the behavior of the poll. If such is not the case, it must then collect a number of signatures corresponding to 1/175e of the votes declared valid at the time of the last legislative elections.

Political trainings in string

See also: List of the political parties of Denmark

the Liberal party (V) is the first political party of the country and is directed by the Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, at this station since 2001. It counts 52 seats in Folketing, and must thus count on an alliance with the conservatives and a support of the extreme right-hand side to control.
the social democrat Left (SD or A) was the first Danish political clout a long time before being preceded by the liberals at the end of the XXème century. First formation of opposition, it counts 47 deputies and is directed by Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
the Party of the people, or Danish Popular party (DF) is a xenophobe formation of extreme-right-hand side carried out by Pia Kjaersgaard. Extremely of 23 seats at the Parliament, third party of the country, it gives its support for the government coalition but does not take part in it.
the preserving Popular party (KF), directed by Bendt Bendtsen, is a party of center-right member of the government coalition. With the social democrat Party and the Liberal party, it is one of the oldest parties of Denmark.
the Radical left or more commonly Party radical-liberal (RV), carried out by Marghrethe Vestager which succeeded on June 15th Marianne Jelved, is a small part of center-left asserting Radicalisme. It belongs to the opposition with 16 seats to Folketing.
the Socialist-popular Left (SF) Socialist Villy Sovndal, and ecologist, is him also member of the opposition and account 11 deputies.
the List of the unit (E) or red and green Alliance, is an alliance of extreme left gathering Communist party (DKP), the Party of the socialist workers (SA) and the socialist Left (VS). Directed by an executive committee of 25 people, it has 6 seats at the Parliament.
the democratic Center (CD) is represented in Folketing by a deputy: Louise Frevert, ex-member of the Party of the people.
the New alliance, new centrist party founded by popular the Naser Khader and the European deputies Anders Samuelsen and Gitte Seeberg, is not represented in Folketing but the scores with which the last surveys credit it, in the neighborhoods of 5%, reveal that it has great chances to make its entry there. She wishes a better integration of the immigrants, the reinforcement of the place of the Denmark in the European Union and the establishment of a single Impôt on the income (40%)

Stakes

The dissolution of the Folketing, announced by the First liberal minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on October 24th with the platform of the Parliament, involved the installation of anticipated legislative elections in accordance with the constitution of 1953. With the head of a line coalition made up of the Liberal party and Conservative party and supported by the Party of the people, with the capacity since their victory with the legislative elections of 2001, it benefitted from a good assessment and its advance in the surveys on the opposition to justify its decision by a desire of Plébiscite, which would actually have been one wish more to do without the support of the extreme right-hand side to be able to continue to control. If the line carried it again, Anders Fogh Rasmussen could aspire to a third mandate.

Rasmussen hoped to concretize its aspirations with the support of the New alliance, created on May 7th, 2007 by very popular Naser Khader, which, according to the first surveys, could make an conspicuous entry at the Parliament. According to the professor Jorgen Elklit of the university of Aarhus, this new party would be halfway, on the political chessboard, of the social democrat Party and the Conservative party. That will not be enough, however, taking into account weak the results finally obtained by New alliance.

Declared the third most competitive economy in the world by the World Economic Forum, the Danish economy of at the end of 2007 drew its good health from sound systême of Flexsécurité, which also made the success of other Scandinavian nations. However, the economic growth, then of 3,5%, was announced with the fall, and the country, if it could be praised to have one of unemployment rates among weakest in the world, could face well very soon with a shortage of labor in certain sectors. The government had announced a reduction plan annual of the taxes, highest in the world, of 10 billion crowns (1,34 billion euro) as from 2008 to fight against this phenomenon. It also envisaged to tax energy to contain the Inflation and to increase the public expenditure from at least 2% from here the next year. These reforms were at the risk for the outgoing majority from a political point of view, the last public opinion polls showing that Danish, including right sympathizers, was not favorable to falls of taxes if those must call in question the financing of the public services, affirming their attachment with the Etat-providence.

The defense of the Welfare state was besides the main theme of countryside of the parties of the opposition, which also endeavoured to criticize the immigration policy of the government, which places the Iraqi refugees in an alarming unstable situation. Europe was also one of the main themes of the countryside. If Anders Fogh Rasmussen sought to push back with later the question of possible a Référendum about the reforming treaty modifying the treaty about the European Union and the treaty instituting the European Community, adopted on October 18th by the 27 heads of state and government of the European Union with Lisbon, the opposition declared that it would put one of them places from there as early as possible, trusting the surveys saying that a majority of Dane wish the organization of a referendum on the new European treaty.

The last public opinion polls gave favorite the outgoing majority: according to a survey published on October 24th in the newspaper Berlingske Tidende, this one was credited of almost 50% to the votes cast, against 42% for the left opposition and nearly 7% for News-alliance. This consequent variation, confirmed by the ballot boxes, will remain weakest all the same recorded between majority and opposition since 6 years.

Surveys

Results

outgoing majority (V, DF, KF), with 89 seats, lacks a seat to invest the absolute majority of the seats of Folketing , but nevertheless is ensured of the support of a deputy of the Faroe Islands. The liberals of the Rasmussen Prime Minister are in retreat, whereas the conservatives are maintained and that the Danish Popular party gains a seat. On the left, the social-democrat as the List of the unit move back very slightly, while the Socialist-popular Party doubles almost its score of 2005 and that the radicals see, them, their score almost divided by two. Disillusion for the centrists of News-alliance who, with 2,7%, carry out a performance in the bottom of the fork of what could to them let hope for the surveys.

External bonds

Results detailed on Election resources .

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