Løkke shares his thoughts: Mette Frederiksen should call an early election here.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen hopes the government can complete some key tasks before calling an election.

As former prime minister, Løkke has himself twice pressed the button and called elections—once in 2011, scheduling a vote from August 26 to September 15, and again in 2019, setting the election date for June 5 after announcing it on May 7. Now, as Foreign Minister, he reflects on when Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) might call the next election.

*"Personally, I think we should finish our work before holding an election,"* he says. When asked about his own expectations, he replies: *"I don’t know. The smartest thing would be to complete this parliamentary term and pass the bills currently in the Folketinget that we agree on—but only once they’re approved. I can’t see any real reason for an election now. But I recognize that it’s the prime minister’s decision."*

Løkke is not yet ready for an election himself. *"No, I actually thought I’d better start now, so last Saturday I took photos for some campaign posters. I don’t think I could wait any longer. But there’s still a waiting period to get them printed,"* he explains, quickly adding: *"I’m preparing for it. Of course, we’ll be ready when the election comes, but with all the uncertainty surrounding Greenland, the U.S., and several bills that could be passed, I think we should try to finish our work first."*

Reflections on the timing of elections are nothing new for Løkke. As a former prime minister, he had to decide twice when to call them. *"I’ve listened to all the commentators, and if they all point to a specific day, there’s been a stubbornness in me that would make sure it wasn’t that day when I pressed the button,"* he says with a smile. *"So now everyone says she’ll do it on a Tuesday—well, if it were me, there’d be one day I wouldn’t press the button, and that would be Tuesday."*

The government’s economic plan, presented after long delays, extends to 2035—but it’s not as extensive as Løkke himself had hoped. *"It’s not enough just to have one person with the ambition to create a plan that could do a bit more,"* he notes. Perhaps also because an election is approaching?

*"I think it’s very natural that as we near an election, the other two governing parties are preparing proposals that, on the one hand, lean toward welfare expansion and, on the other, toward cuts. So there’s no time to create a unified plan."*

The growing public disputes among coalition partners are also a natural consequence of an upcoming election, Løkke believes. *"While the government has previously managed to keep disagreements internal and reach compromises, the situation changes now. We’re approaching the point where we’ll have to speak to voters again, and it’s natural to start highlighting the differences."*

If elections were held in, say, half a year, would it be sustainable for the government to keep bickering so much?

*"I don’t know if we’re bickering. You could also call it a healthy political debate. The key thing is that the government agrees on what it agrees on,"* he says.

Only the prime minister can decide when the election will take place. Until then, the rest of us must wait in anticipation.

One thing we know for certain: the election must be held by October 31.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.