THE anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party (DPP) has been in the vanguard of Europe’s populist right for a decade and a half. It scored huge gains in elections on June 18th, coming second with 21% of the vote. But the DPP will not be joining the centre-right government announced last week by Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the Liberal Party. Indeed, no other parties will. Unable to form a coalition due to policy divisions, Mr Rasmussen will lead a single-party minority government, with tacit parliamentary backing from the DPP and two other right-leaning parties. Together they have a fragile one-vote majority in Denmark’s 179-seat parliament. And with 37 seats to the Liberals’ 34, the DPP is already starting to show its power.
Mr Rasmussen’s defeat of Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s Social Democrat-led administration was far from definitive. The Social Democrats remain the largest party in parliament with 47 seats. While no left-leaning coalition was possible, the so-called “blue bloc” is deeply split too. The Liberals and the DPP disagree on taxes, social spending and the European Union, leading the DPP to turn down Mr Rasmussen’s offer of cabinet seats.
Denmark’s multiparty political system frequently produces minority governments, but this one seems unusually tricky. The surge in support for the DPP has it brimming with confidence and determined to drive hard...
from The Economist: Europe http://ift.tt/1LFOmmd
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