Mette Frederiksen of the Social Democrats received the mandate after the so-called royal meeting on Saturday. Earlier, the right-wing liberal Troels Lund Poulsen had failed in coalition negotiations. During the royal meeting, all parliamentary parties express their support for a candidate before King Frederik X; whoever receives the most support gets to form a government first.
Frederiksen had already received the mandate after the first royal meeting at the end of March but failed to achieve a breakthrough. Her Social Democrats emerged from the election as the strongest force but lost significantly: they won 38 of the 179 seats – a drop of 50 seats from the previous legislative term and the worst result since 1903. The goal now is a center-left government, with former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his new party Moderates playing a key role.
The lengthy negotiations delay political decisions in a sensitive phase: Denmark is trying to resolve a crisis with the US government under Donald Trump over Greenland.
Source: www.tagesspiegel.de
