Several local Social Democratic leaders have expressed views on who they would like to see as Denmark’s potential future leader on Thursday while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen continues to dispel rumours that she is being considered for the NATO secretary general position.
As the NATO Summit in Vilnius approaches, the question of a new prime minister in Denmark becomes ever more relevant. On July 11 and 12, heads of state and government of the NATO countries will gather in Vilnius, where a new secretary general is expected to be appointed.
Rumour has it Frederiksen is being considered for the position, although she has consistently denied it. After coalition partners mentioned Frederiksen could shift to NATO, several local Social Democratic leaders spoke out in Danish media, voicing their preferences for their potential future prime minister.
Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen and Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard are the two most frequently mentioned among the local Social Democratic leaders.
“I think the most natural choice in such a situation would be Nicolai Wammen. He is the Minister of Finance and has been part of the inner circle for many years. It would also provide the most stability with him,” declared Leif Luxhøj-Pedersen, chairman of the Social Democratic constituency in Lyngby-Taarbæk, close to Copenhagen.
“If I have to choose, it would be Wammen. He is respected throughout the kingdom. Peter Hummelgaard is also respected but probably not as well-known. Wammen has been finance minister and mayor, and he is more heavyweight. Hummelgaard is not as well known in western Denmark,” said Kjeld Saaby Frandsen from Randers, in Central Jutland.
However, many of the 92 local Social Democratic leaders declared to Danish broadcaster DR that the question of Mette Frederikse’s replacement as the new party leader and the prime minister is a “hypothetical question”, which they, therefore, do not want to answer.
But for Per Stefansen, Social Democratic district chairman in Ringkøbing, Central Jutland, Frederiksen is a candidate for the post.
“I don’t know if she is on her way. But there’s a bit of Anders Fogh in the way she explains herself: Deny, deny, deny, until it turns out to be the case”, he said, adding that “Yes, I think she is a candidate.”
In 2009, former Liberal Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a shift from the prime minister’s office to the NATO headquarters after he insisted for months that he was not a candidate for any top international post.
Neither Peter Hummelgaard nor Nicolai Wammen commented on the issue.
Source: euractiv