Denmark’s king reappointed outgoing Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to lead talks to form a government on Saturday after two failed rounds of coalition talks following inconclusive elections in March.
“The parties representing the majority in the Folketing have recommended that acting Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen be appointed to lead negotiations to form a government,” the palace said in a statement.
On Friday, the leader of the liberal Venstre party, Troels Lund Poulsen, announced that efforts to form a right-wing government had failed, as the moderates were unable to support the minority coalition.
He had replaced Frederiksen on May 8, who was initially tasked with forming a government.
Frederiksen has been asked by King Frederik X to investigate the possibility of a government with the participation of, among others, the Socialist People’s Party and the social liberal Radical Left, the palace said.
Denmark’s talks to form a government have continued for a record period of more than 59 days, according to Danish media.
“We will start tomorrow and in the following days,” Frederiksen told reporters after meeting the king, according to Danish broadcaster DR.
Neither the left nor the right bloc won a majority in the March 24 election that left the parliament deeply divided.
Frederiksen’s Social Democrats recorded their weakest result since 1903, but remained the largest party by far.
The traditional far-right party, the Danish People’s Party, which has heavily influenced politics since the late 1990s but fell in the 2022 election, more than tripled its result to 9.1 percent of the vote.
The three anti-immigration groups together garnered 17%, a consistent figure for Denmark’s populist right over the past two decades.
(jp)
