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Danish PM close to poll majority | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Denmark's governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is close to winning an absolute majority, projections say. | |
TV channels predicted, with 60% of the votes counted, that Mr Rasmussen's Liberal-Conservative-led government would be one seat short of a majority. | |
He could depend on parliamentary support from a new party led by a Syrian-born Palestinian immigrant. | |
Turnout was higher than in the previous poll, held in 2005, at well over 80%. | |
Projections suggested the governing centre-right held an advantage over the left-wing bloc, led by the Social Democrats, but would fall one seat short of an absolute majority in the 179-member parliament, the Folketing. | |
'Kingmaker' Khader? | |
If this result is confirmed, Mr Rasmussen's minority Liberal-Conservative coalition - along with its parliamentary ally, the right-wing Danish People's Party (DPP) would need the support of the recently formed New Alliance party, led by Naser Khader, tipped to win five seats. | |
Naser Khader (R) could have an important role in coalition talks | |
And although Mr Khader has said his choice would be to side with the current prime minister, many expect negotiations along the way. | |
But such a coalition including the anti-immigrant DPP and Mr Khader's party would be unstable, analysts say. | |
A tight result could even lead to a situation where the four MPs from the Faroe Islands and Greenland - the Danish dependencies in the North Atlantic - end up holding the balance of power, BBC's Julian Isherwood reports from Copenhagen. | |
There has been much campaign wrangling about welfare and tax reforms, immigration and the environment. | There has been much campaign wrangling about welfare and tax reforms, immigration and the environment. |
But all the main parties seem to agree on the core issues and campaigning has been more about who wields power than a policy change, correspondents say. | But all the main parties seem to agree on the core issues and campaigning has been more about who wields power than a policy change, correspondents say. |