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Red Green Alliance Wins 6 Deputies in General Election

Thursday 10 February 2005, by Ãge Skovrind

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The Danish general election on Tuesday 8 February resulted in the Red Green Alliance (Enhedlisten) getting their the best results ever with 3.4% of the vote and 6 seats: Line Barfod, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil, Frank Aaen, Rune Lund, Per Clausen and Jørgen Arbo-Bæhr were elected MPs.
Jørgen Arbo-Bæhr is from the SAP, the trend in the RGA that supports the Fourth International.

The RGA had a fantastic campaign. Almost 800 asked to join as members during the campaign (membership was about 2600 before). But this success of the far left has to be balanced against the overall result - the return of the right wing, harshly anti-immigrant, government. For the exact figure on each party visit the election page of the Danish Interior Ministry.

Below we publish an explanation of the result by Red Green Alliance Press Secretary Aage Skovrind.

Right wing government wins new term - far left advances

The Danish general elections on February 8th have left the country even more polarized, with two clear-cut blocs in the parliament. The far left Red-Green Alliance has consolidated itself as a stable force in Danish politics. The main challenge is now to convert the electoral progress to a strong movement against the right wing government that creates poverty, war and xenophobia.

Despite a loss of four seats in Parliament, the Liberal Party of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is looking forward to a new government period after the general election. The Conservative coalition partner gained two seats, while the far right, anti-immigration Danish Peoples Party, offering a parliamentary majority to the government, gained two seats.

The major changes took place inside the opposition bloc. Losing five seats, the Social Democrats did not recover from their historic defeat in 2001, when they lost not only the government but also the century- long position as the biggest political party. During the electoral campaign marked by a personal media competition between the two prime ministerial candidates, Mogens Lykketoft of the Social Democrats was not able to present a credible alternative, either on a personal or political level.

Jørgen Arbo-Bæhr

Both candidates promised more or less the same improvement of welfare services such as health care, elder care, lower prices for child care, more spending on education and research etc.

Fogh Rasmussen argued that the “tax stop” (which primarily favoured the high incomes and owners of big estates) introduced by the government after the 2001 elections would continue. Rasmussen argued further that only the right wing government would be able to maintain the harsh immigration policies, which it had tightened.

The restrictive immigration policy has caused a lot of international criticism of the right wing government, but the Social Democrat challenger declared he would not loosen it. The weakest point for the government was the rising unemployment rate since it came into power in 2001.

Although Lykketoft presented a job creation plan, and got a new argument when a slaughterhouse was closed and 450 workers were sacked in the beginning of the campaign, he failed to stand as a firm opposition. After all, the privatization and austerity policies of the bourgeois government is a continuation of the preceding Social Democratic government. Likewise, the party has supported employment of Danish troops in Iraq and joined a national agreement to recommend the new European Constitution.

The big winner of the opposition was the Social Liberals, increasing the number of seats from 9 to 17. Unlike the Social Democrats, the party strongly opposes the anti-immigration policy of the bourgeois government.

Due to an image as the “responsible, humanitarian and fair-minded alternative”, the Social Radicals has grown increasingly popular among students and well-educated city habitants. Their anti-union, pro-austerity and anti-social tax policies are less exposed. In some traditional worker constituencies of Copenhagen, the party became the biggest party.

On the left, the reformist Social Peoples Party had another bad score and lost one seat. Party leader for the last 14 years, Holger K. Nielsen, resigned the day after the elections.

The far left Red-Green Alliance had its best result ever since the foundation of the party in 1989. With 3.4 % of the votes, the party increased the number of seats from four to six.

Several factors may explain the good result. Among them are the general right wing turn of the Socialist Peoples Party, in particular its recommendation of the European Constitution (36 percent of the members voted against in a party referendum), an outstanding media performance by the young MP Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil (labelled by the media as the “election princess”), big support among first-time voters (the Alliance was one of the biggest party in several high school elections), and a clear opposition the Danish involvement in the occupation of Iraq.

Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil

“The gains of the party was one of three goals that we set for the campaign”, says MP Line Barfod.

“However”, she adds, “we didn’t succeed in changing the political balance towards the left or to increase the opposition against the war. And in overturning the government, we failed completely.”

However the Red-Green Alliance managed to carry through an active and well-coordinated electoral campaign, where almost all members have been involved. During the campaign the party gained 800 new members.

Among the next challenges for the party are the regional and municipal elections on November 15th, and the upcoming referendum on the European Constitution.

Results

Party, number of seats (compared to 2001 elections)

Social Democracy 47 (-5)

Social Liberals (center party 17 (+8)

Conservatives (part of government 18 (+2)

Center Democrats: 0 (-)

Socialist Peoples Party 11 (-1)

Cristian Democrats: 0 (-4)

Minority Party: 0 (-)

Danish Peoples Party (supporting the government 24 (+2)

Liberals (part of government) 52 (-4)

Red Green Alliance (far left)6 (+2)

Red-Green Alliance Enhedslisten