[Aptorian]

I've been considering making a Danish Politics thread, because Denmark is about to have two elections and also just because Scandinavian Politics often seems so different from the us vs them mentality of the US Politics thread.

But I think a catch all thread for big and small events could prove useful. Could call it World Politics but I'm sticking with the Malazan Forums Ye Big franchise name.

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Denmark is about to start both a European and a National Election. The Priminister will likely set the election date for the National election Wednesday at the latest.

Which makes for an interesting 3-4 weeks. National and European elections tend to meld into a debate about national identity, immigrants and lawmaking. Which is water on the right wings mill. Only because of Brexit and because of the climate the right wing is on wobly legs, made more so by a surge of fringe parties popping up this year.

We're going to have 12-13 eligible parties for the national election this year and the newest ones are all variations of right wing politics.

The right wing is really turbulent now. The main left wing party, Social Demokraterne, has been stealing the immigration policy of the big nationalist party on the right, Dansk Folkeparti, in an effort to bleed them and there by weaken the strongest support of the main Right party, Venstre.

Meanwhile an even more right wing nationalist party called Ny Borgerlige, has popped up, because the nationalists in Denmark aren't racist enough. So they're also bleeding Dansk Folkeparti. Also DF have just been fucking up in general for a year now themselves so they look terrible.

And the past month a guy called Rasmus Paludan has been making waves by running around Copenhagen throwing Korans on the ground, setting them on fire, rubbing them in pigs fat, etc. And his party Stram Kurs, is likely going to get a seat in our parliament for the simple reason that people support his right to be an asshole.

Then you have a disgraced finance guy, a convicted embezzler and fraudster, who's doing the Trump thing, promising to tax global businesses, lower our taxes and change our parliament because he knows how to fix Denmark, he's named his own party after himself, Klaus Riskjær Partiet. Edit: Their platform is financial and cultural, not immigration. They could swing left or right.

Danish Politics are going to get weird for the next month.

Edit: I should add that everyone is expecting this to be the year that Denmark swings left, maybe heavily, and Social Demokraterne gets back the power but it's all really tenuous.

Denmark, a traditionally socialist liberal nation, has had a right wing government for the past 4 out of 5 terms. 16 out of 20 years.

But Immigration and nationalism gets a lot of focus now, which is why Social Demokraterne is taking a hard stance on immigration.

This in turn is souring a lot of people who voted socialist on Social Demokraterne. It's uncertain whether the other left wing parties will work together with a party that's this hardline on immigration and human rights.

Not to mention that Social Demokraterne has a very ugly relationship with Denmark's journalists and they're refusing to take ownership of their mistakes.

Personally I have no idea who to vote for. I might vote Enhedslisten, the most far left party or I might vote Klaus Riskjær just for the lulz.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 04 May 2019 - 05:39 PM

[James Hutton]

Aptorian, on 04 May 2019 - 02:03 PM, said:

I might vote Klaus Riskjær just for the lulz.

I've heard some people saying the same thing, during last month's senate elections in the Netherlands: voting for Thiery Baudet's far right party (Forum voor Democratie). Even thought the man is a racist, xenophobe bigot. Why vote for somebody like that? I can't seem to find any fun in that direction. Or is it so that you can see him make a fool of himself when he gets elected?

[Aptorian]

I might have miss-labled Riskjær by tagging him on the end of the list of far right parties.

Riskjærs party is right leaning but potentially centrist, he's indicated he will support our current priminister if Venstre wins again, but they're a mercenary party. They'll enter an alliance with the group that can offer them what ever policy they've promised the voters. They're not at all focused on immigration but rather taxes and spending.

In the case of Riskjær I actually like the man a lot. He's sharp and he's got the vision for politics. Demanding that companies pay their taxes is a very populist promise, but it's also a fair goal. A lot of people will vote for such a campaign promise.

Where the problem lies is that he also wants to implement all kinds of little changes that just happens to benefit him financially. It doesn't take much cynicism to imagine he'll do other things for his own benefit. Generally speaking he's a crazy candidate nobody are entirely sure about.

What ever the result of the elections, Riskjærs party is not going to get any kind of majority. If they get in they'll probably get a few seats and they'll be able to effect the way policy is made the next four years.

Voting for Riskjær sends a signal that we're tired of multinational companies not paying taxes.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 04 May 2019 - 07:48 PM

[worry]

Great idea for a thread! Just remember: he who lulz last, lulz best.

[Aptorian]

Better to have lulzed a little than to never had lulzed at all.

[Tsundoku]

He who lulzeth last ... hath probably missedeth the joke.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 04 May 2019 - 08:53 PM

[Zetubal]

One thing I don't quite understand is why the right wing appears to have splintered into so many factions whereas the left seems to be mostly unified under the banner of the social democrats. Especially considering what you said, that for the majority of the past 20 years, the political right has ruled in Denmark.

[Tsundoku]

When you're in a long term government, people have the time to take note of what they dislike about their compatriots. What irritates them etc. It breeds contempt for their people, the loss of hunger to get their approval. Taking the resources of goverment for granted. Typical elitism.

Whereas constant loss breeds a siege mentality and an enforced sense of having to hang together or hang seperately.

Plenty of other reasons I'm sure, but those are a couple of things that come to my mind in that situation. "Success has a hundred fathers but failure is an orphan" or something like that.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 05 May 2019 - 12:22 PM

[Maark Abbott]

worry, on 04 May 2019 - 07:46 PM, said:

Great idea for a thread! Just remember: he who lulz last, lulz best.

Praise kek

[Aptorian]

Zetubal, on 05 May 2019 - 11:12 AM, said:

One thing I don't quite understand is why the right wing appears to have splintered into so many factions whereas the left seems to be mostly unified under the banner of the social democrats. Especially considering what you said, that for the majority of the past 20 years, the political right has ruled in Denmark.

Tsundoku may be on to something but I think it's a reflection of global trends. The voters are frustrated and certain politically minded people try to capitalize.

Lots of small parties trying to get into our parliament isn't new. Every election you have fringe groups or splinters looking for a foothold.

The right are mostly unified. Venstre always leads and Liberal Alliance and Dansk Folkeparti supports them. At the end of the day we're always close to a 50/50 split between the wings.

Now the election night change this but time will tell.

What is more telling though is how important immigration is. Lots of people will be voting for Nye Borgerlige and Stram Kurs. Rasmus Paludan and Stram Kurs is a walking Muhammed drawing crisis waiting to happen. I worry what happens if the World Press decides to focus on him.

Paludan's practically a Nazi focused specifically on deportation of Muslims. He's a a hair shy of being mentally handicapped or deemed an autist but his message cuts right through any debate or compromise. Just deport all of them and be done with it. It's something a lot of people can latch on to. It's insane and inhuman and illegal but racists are gonna racist. Whether or not Paludan claims to be against religion and not brown people.

In other news our Priminister announced the election will be June 5th. Denmark's "Bill of Rights day". Having 13 party leaders on stage for a debate is tiresome.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 08 May 2019 - 09:55 AM

[worry]

Do you guys have anything equivalent to 'primaries'?

[Aptorian]

Nope. If you can get 20,000 signatures you can get your party on the national election ballot (There's then some technical legal requirements)

In Denmark we vote for a party, not politicians. You can vote for individual politicians but it's merely counted as a personal/popular vote/a sign of special confidence - that still counts toward the party itself.

It's the parties that chooses the priminister, not the voters.

There are special priminister-candidate debates though. Where, instead of having 10+ politicians bickering, you have the expected leader of each wing facing off. Not sure how it will go this year though what with the new parties pointing at their own leaders as potential priministers.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 08 May 2019 - 09:13 PM

[Morgoth]

Our last minister of justice had to step down recently. There's been a lot of attention on him lately because he's received several death threats, there's been damage done to his house, and most recently his car was lit on fire while in his driveway. The sort of attacks on a politician we've never seen before here in Norway. Left wing radicals and such were blamed extensively by other members of his party, the right wing populist Progress Party. A small theater received a lot of criticism, especially from the prime minister, for having a picture of the minister of justice's house in the background of one of their productions. These unacceptable acts was their fault, the PM thundered on national television.

The reason he had to step down is for somewhat of a different reason. His wife, whom he lives with, has been charged with a number of serious crimes, and faces a substantial prison sentence.

The crime she's accused of? Sending death threats to the minister of justice, vandalizing his home and setting fire to his car in the middle of the night.

[Tiste Simeon]

Are you saying the right wing twists a narrative to suit their agenda and miss out key facts in their propaganda? I'm shocked!

[Cause]

Morgoth, on 10 May 2019 - 11:16 AM, said:

Our last minister of justice had to step down recently. There's been a lot of attention on him lately because he's received several death threats, there's been damage done to his house, and most recently his car was lit on fire while in his driveway. The sort of attacks on a politician we've never seen before here in Norway. Left wing radicals and such were blamed extensively by other members of his party, the right wing populist Progress Party. A small theater received a lot of criticism, especially from the prime minister, for having a picture of the minister of justice's house in the background of one of their productions. These unacceptable acts was their fault, the PM thundered on national television.

The reason he had to step down is for somewhat of a different reason. His wife, whom he lives with, has been charged with a number of serious crimes, and faces a substantial prison sentence.

The crime she's accused of? Sending death threats to the minister of justice, vandalizing his home and setting fire to his car in the middle of the night.

Why has she done this? Nasty divorce? To boost his profile? She really wants to kill him?

[Gorefest]

Aptorian, on 08 May 2019 - 09:12 PM, said:

It's the parties that chooses the priminister, not the voters.

Prime minister As in 'first minister'.

Yeah, same system as in the Netherlands and probably most other small Western European countries.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 10 May 2019 - 11:33 AM

[Tsundoku]

Cause, on 10 May 2019 - 11:24 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 10 May 2019 - 11:16 AM, said:

Our last minister of justice had to step down recently. There's been a lot of attention on him lately because he's received several death threats, there's been damage done to his house, and most recently his car was lit on fire while in his driveway. The sort of attacks on a politician we've never seen before here in Norway. Left wing radicals and such were blamed extensively by other members of his party, the right wing populist Progress Party. A small theater received a lot of criticism, especially from the prime minister, for having a picture of the minister of justice's house in the background of one of their productions. These unacceptable acts was their fault, the PM thundered on national television.

The reason he had to step down is for somewhat of a different reason. His wife, whom he lives with, has been charged with a number of serious crimes, and faces a substantial prison sentence.

The crime she's accused of? Sending death threats to the minister of justice, vandalizing his home and setting fire to his car in the middle of the night.

Why has she done this? Nasty divorce? To boost his profile? She really wants to kill him?

I blame the violent, gender equivalence message of that notorious TV show "Norsemen".

[Morgoth]

Cause, on 10 May 2019 - 11:24 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 10 May 2019 - 11:16 AM, said:

Our last minister of justice had to step down recently. There's been a lot of attention on him lately because he's received several death threats, there's been damage done to his house, and most recently his car was lit on fire while in his driveway. The sort of attacks on a politician we've never seen before here in Norway. Left wing radicals and such were blamed extensively by other members of his party, the right wing populist Progress Party. A small theater received a lot of criticism, especially from the prime minister, for having a picture of the minister of justice's house in the background of one of their productions. These unacceptable acts was their fault, the PM thundered on national television.

The reason he had to step down is for somewhat of a different reason. His wife, whom he lives with, has been charged with a number of serious crimes, and faces a substantial prison sentence.

The crime she's accused of? Sending death threats to the minister of justice, vandalizing his home and setting fire to his car in the middle of the night.

Why has she done this? Nasty divorce? To boost his profile? She really wants to kill him?

That's a good question. The prevalent theory is that she's doing it for the attention/sympathy and to help her husband's career. Things weren't going well during his tenure.

[Macros]

[Aptorian]

Morgoth, on 10 May 2019 - 11:39 AM, said:

Cause, on 10 May 2019 - 11:24 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 10 May 2019 - 11:16 AM, said:

Our last minister of justice had to step down recently. There's been a lot of attention on him lately because he's received several death threats, there's been damage done to his house, and most recently his car was lit on fire while in his driveway. The sort of attacks on a politician we've never seen before here in Norway. Left wing radicals and such were blamed extensively by other members of his party, the right wing populist Progress Party. A small theater received a lot of criticism, especially from the prime minister, for having a picture of the minister of justice's house in the background of one of their productions. These unacceptable acts was their fault, the PM thundered on national television.

The reason he had to step down is for somewhat of a different reason. His wife, whom he lives with, has been charged with a number of serious crimes, and faces a substantial prison sentence.

The crime she's accused of? Sending death threats to the minister of justice, vandalizing his home and setting fire to his car in the middle of the night.

Why has she done this? Nasty divorce? To boost his profile? She really wants to kill him?

That's a good question. The prevalent theory is that she's doing it for the attention/sympathy and to help her husband's career. Things weren't going well during his tenure.

Political Munchausen by proxy.

Meanwhile Danish politics have expectedly become weird. Our current Primeminister (Venstre) has aired the idea of a left-right coalition between the two big parties Social Demokratiet and Venstre, because of the extremism on the fringes. SD doesn't need it or want it though, they're projected to get big enough win with a big margin.

Meanwhile the big Nationalist party Dansk Folkeparti is set to lose half of it's last voters. This is a party that a couple of years ago was immensely popular and influential despite not being in the government. That puts a smile on my face.

Unfortunately many of those voters are drifting further right. Both Nye Borgerlige and Stram Kurs stand to gain three-five seats each of the 179 seats in Denmark's parliament. That's a level of extremism that's unsettling. They'll never get a role in a government but considering that Dansk Folkeparti was viewed as a backdoor for Scandinavian nazies this is just bleak.

Klaus Riskjær Partiet (Whom I was thinking about voting for) and The Christian Democrats are probably not going to get enough votes to get into parliament. Riskjær has been overshadowed by the far right weirdos and, well, the Christian party has been obsolete for decades.

I'm down to either voting for Alternativet because of their green craziness or Enhedslisten for their red craziness. I'll probably roll the dice the coming week.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 17 May 2019 - 09:31 AM