The Social Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen again became the biggest in parliament with 27.5% of votes, the party’s best election in more than two decades.
In a nail biter of an election, two differing vote count projections by the country’s largest broadcasters put into question until the last moment whether the ruling left-wing bloc could retain its majority.
The left-leaning bloc got 87 seats in the 179-seat parliament, which would give it a majority with support from a Faroe Island mandate and two yet-to-be-determined seats in Greenland, a sovereign territory of Denmark that often elects left-wing candidates, DR said.
The result would give Frederiksen a mandate to be the first to try and form a new government.
A majority to the left-wing parties is likely to present a dilemma for Frederiksen, who has advocated a broad coalition across the traditional left-right divide, arguing that political unity is needed at a time of international uncertainty.
She could begin negotiations with former prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his new non-aligned party, the Moderates, which have also campaigned for a coalition of mainstream parties.
The left-leaning parties that Frederiksen can rely on to form a new government include the Socialist People’s Party, the Red-Green Alliance and the Social-Liberal Party, the latter which used to be headed by European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Opposition leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen of the Liberal Party acknowledged a defeat early on Wednesday. His party lost 19 of its 43 seats in parliament.
(Reuters)
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