Danes Vote to Settle Fate of Leader Tarnished by Mink Cull

Christian Wienberg and Ott Ummelas
·4 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Denmark headed to the polls on Tuesday in a general election after Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called an early vote as she faces a backlash for a disastrous pandemic-era mink cull decision.

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Voters are torn between two political blocs, with both promising more aid as households are being squeezed by soaring energy and food prices. Neither the so-called red bloc on the left or the blue on the right are expected to command a majority, and a kingmaker is emerging from the middle of the political spectrum in the form of a new party founded less than five months ago by a former prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

“This election can be very tight,” Frederiksen said as she cast her vote at a local sports center in a Copenhagen suburb. “No matter the outcome, we’re facing a lot of challenges. We need an acute reform of the health-care system and we also need to help Danes through inflation.”

While Danes tend to be governed by parties from either of the two blocs, there’s a chance now to see a so-called grand coalition spanning the political spectrum. Both Frederiksen and Lokke Rasmussen have made the suggestion, but a number of parties have rebuffed the idea.

Here are some of the issues that the 4.2 million-strong electorate has focused on during the campaign.

Cost-of-Living Squeeze

Like their global peers, Danish households have seen their purchasing power evaporate as inflation has jumped to double digits for the first time in four decades. Electricity prices are likely to keep spurring price growth to new highs during the winter. At the same time, credit costs are growing as the central bank tightens policy. Consumer sentiment at an all-time low is adding to worries that the grim outlook could also start affecting the labor market.

Frederiksen’s government has introduced a one-time energy subsidy for low-income Danes, slashed electricity fees and also agreed with its partners to cap rent increases to 4% per year over the next two years to soften the blow from higher prices. That’s elicited a warning from the country’s so-called Wise Men, who told policy makers to be careful with handouts to avoid fanning the flames on inflation.

Health Care

The Danish health-care system, which provides free treatment for all citizens, is struggling to clear a backlog of procedures after the Covid-19 pandemic and a 2021 strike by nurses. The challenge is exacerbated by a shortage of almost 5,000 nurses created as droves of care workers seeking higher wages moved to the private sector.

The government’s attempt to fix things has ended up opening a can of worms. It has proposed to raise wages for public employees, which is expected to include health staff. That would be a breach of a century-long labor-market model, where employers and unions agree on working conditions without political meddling.

Energy and Climate

Climate issues are top of mind for voters in Denmark, where pigs outnumber humans two-to-one. The main debate has focused on whether agriculture should be subject to a carbon tax, given it accounts for a third of the country’s carbon-dioxide emissions.

Frederiksen has pledged such a tax if she’s reappointed, while seeking to return income from the tax to the sector that boasts the European Union’s biggest pig population on a per capita basis. Her government clinched a climate-tax deal earlier this year to help meet one of the world’s most ambitious climate targets -- to reduce emissions by 70% before 2030, compared with 1990 levels.

While Danes have ample energy supplies in the form of biogas and wind, Europe’s energy crunch hits home through the wallet. That’s pushed some to propose the champion of wind power should also consider adding nuclear energy to its portfolio for the first time, after neighboring Sweden’s new government set its sights on new reactors.

Immigration

Denmark was among the first movers in the early 2000s to tighten immigration policies and cut benefits for refugees and asylum seekers, with human rights groups condemning its strict measures. That turned immigration into a battle ground contested in a number of elections, and as a result, most mainstream parties now back restrictive policies. That’s led voters to lose interest in the topic, and the general election isn’t expected to bring about a surge on the extreme right, as happened in Sweden this September.

A case in point is the Danish People’s Party, which got 21% of the vote in 2015. It’s now polling at around 2% after internal division in its leadership and the emergence of other anti-immigration parties. Still, one point of contention has centered around the government’s plan to open an asylum center in Rwanda, which its support parties have denounced.

(Updates with comment from the prime minister in third paragraph.)

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