Copenhagen, (Samajweekly) After months of speculation, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has finally called a general election in Denmark for November 1, 2022.
“I am proud of the accomplishments of this administration in less than three years. And now we’re asking for a new mandate on November 1,” she told journalists outside Marienborg, her official residence, on Wednesday.
“The government does not resign in conjunction with the announcement of the election,” a statement from her office said.
The country’s current Social Democratic minority government expects to remain in power as part of a ruling coalition, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The time has come to test a new form of government in Denmark,” Frederiksen said.
“We are ready for both compromises and cooperation. We would like to put ourselves at the head of a broad government with parties from both sides of the political middle.”
The campaign, according to the Prime Minister, will be focused on “security,” and the most important political task now is to get Denmark through the crisis successfully.
“The 2022 parliamentary election will be a security election. Security for individuals, families, finances and daily life, as well as security for Denmark, Europe and the world,” she added.
The Danish Parliament is re-elected at least every four years. The most recent election took place on June 5, 2019.
The political parties will compete for 179 seats in the Folketing, or Danish Parliament: 175 in Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland.
The “mink scandal,” which saw the country cull 17 million mink in late 2020, has cast a long shadow over the current administration since this July, when an independent panel reprimanded the minority government for its role but did not impeach it.
The Social Liberal Party, one of the government’s three supporters, demanded that Frederiksen call elections no later than when the new Parliament convenes in October, or face a no-confidence vote.
