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Danish centre-right wins election | Danish centre-right wins election |
(about 10 hours later) | |
Denmark's centre-right government of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has won a snap election, securing a third consecutive term in office. | |
His Liberal-Conservative coalition and allies won 90 of the 179 seats in parliament, near complete results show. | |
The centre-left opposition led by the Social Democrats secured 84 seats. | |
Mr Rasmussen now faces tough talks on whether to expand the ruling bloc by including a new party led by a Syria-born Palestinian immigrant. | |
Turnout was higher than in the previous poll, held in 2005, at over 86%. | Turnout was higher than in the previous poll, held in 2005, at over 86%. |
Tough negotiations | |
"It's a good day for Denmark. Everything indicates that the government can continue," Mr Rasmussen, 54, told his jubilant supporters after victory became clear. | |
THE NEW DANISH PARLIAMENT Liberal Party 46 (-6)Social Democrats 45 (-1)Danish People's Party 25 (+1)Socialist Party 23 (+12)Conservative Party 18 (no change)New Alliance 5 (+5)Others 17Total 179 | THE NEW DANISH PARLIAMENT Liberal Party 46 (-6)Social Democrats 45 (-1)Danish People's Party 25 (+1)Socialist Party 23 (+12)Conservative Party 18 (no change)New Alliance 5 (+5)Others 17Total 179 |
Social Democrat leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt admitted her party had failed to gain enough votes, saying: "It was not enough." | |
"We'll do it next time," she added. | |
With all the votes counted, Mr Rasmussen's Liberal Party lost six of its seats to secure 46 berths in the parliament, the Folketing, while the Conservatives remained unchanged at 18. | |
But the coalition's majority was assured thanks to a strong showing by the right-wing Danish People's Party (DPP). The minority Liberal-Conservative cabinet has until now counted on the support of the DPP. | |
Another allied party appeared to have won one of two seats in the semi-autonomous Faroe Islands. | |
Mr Rasmussen's bloc now has to decide whether to include the recently formed New Alliance party, headed by Naser Khader, a Palestinian immigrant. The party won five seats. | |
Although Mr Khader said his choice would be to side with the prime minister, many now expect negotiations along the way. | |
A coalition including the anti-immigrant DPP and Mr Khader's party could also be unstable, some analysts say. | |
Complete official results are expected later on Wednesday. | |
The issues of welfare and tax reforms, immigration and the environment led to much campaign wrangling. | |
But all the main parties seem to agree on the core issues and campaigning has been more about who wields power than any policy change, correspondents say. | |
Mr Rasmussen called the early election three weeks ago, taking advantage of high approval ratings and strong economic growth. |