DENMARK: Syrian migrant emerges as kingmaker in closely fought Danish election

Record ID: 276188

  • Title: DENMARK: Syrian migrant emerges as kingmaker in closely fought Danish election
  • Date: 13th November 2007
  • Summary: WIDE OF STREET WITH MIDDLE EASTERN SHOPS SHOP SIGN READING (in Arabic): 'JEWELS OF THE GULF' SHOP SIGN READING (in English): 'ISLAMIC WEAR'
  • Embargoed: 28th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Denmark
  • Country: Denmark
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA3LUVH108QWPRZWNK1NL7G5QSO
  • Story Text: With Danes voting in a tight election on Tuesday (November 13), the Syrian-born leader of the New Alliance party Naser Khader appears to have garnered enough support to play kingmaker to the next governing majority.
    His party, which has vowed for better treatment of refugees and lower income taxes, may determine the shape of the new government.
    Forty-four-year-old Khader was 11 years old when he reluctantly immigrated to Denmark in 1974 in search of a better future.
    Born to a Palestinian father and a Syrian mother, Khader calls himself a secular Muslim and has the word "Democracy" tattooed on his forearm in Arabic.
    Khader shot to prominence when he led a moderate Muslim movement in 2006 urging calm after a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed sparked violent protests across the Middle East.
    "I have been here in Denmark for about 33 years. I have spent most of my life here, since I was 11 years old. For the first ten to fifteen years I used to always think about the Middle East, Syria and Palestine. But during the latter fifteen years I became convinced that Denmark is my country and that I am going to remain here, as will my children. I consider myself a Dane of Arab origins. When I visit the Middle East, there are many things that I dislike. There is no freedom, no democracy. I hope that democracy will spread in the entire Middle East because democracy would resolve all of Middle East's problems," Khader told reporters at a news conference earlier this week.
    In addition to fighting Muslim extremism, Khader has striven to stem the influence of the leader of the Danish People's Party's (DPP) Pia Kjaersgaard, who stands on an anti-immigration platform.
    "During the past few years the Danish People's Party (DPP), a right-wing party, has been in complete control of the Danish government. That is why we would like to move power to the centre, away from the DPP, because Denmark needs to open its doors to the world. Denmark needs to integrate and welcome people to it. The DPP is trying to close the doors of Denmark, we would like to open them," added Khader.
    Many believe that the immigration debate has given Denmark a bad name abroad.
    "I don't like the way Denmark has showed its face outside the world because I feel ashamed when I hear foreigners talk about how we treat our guests here and I never had outside our country been treated like that," Danish citizen Jens Christiansen said.
    Others, however, are slightly apathetic towards Khader's policies.
    Anne Mette Hemmingson said she thought he was "alright" but did not intend to vote at all.
    "I tell you that I think he has a problem with getting through (his message). I don't think he is a very good communicator. I think some of the others from his party are better than he is," said Peter, a local resident of Copenhagen who seems unimpressed by Khader.
    The leader of the New Alliance party cannot count on the support of the Danish-Muslim community either.
    The cleric of the largest mosque in Copenhagen declined to be interviewed about Khader, saying the Muslim associations in Denmark had decided to keep a low profile and not to comment.
    Kjaersgaard's DPP has supported the centre-right minority coalition government of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, helping it to pass tougher immigration rules following the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
    With Rasmussen's pledge to slash immigration, the number of foreigners granted asylum in Denmark fell nearly 80 percent to 1,095 in 2006 from 5,156 in 2000, according to the national statistics bureau.
    Despite these figures, about 30 candidates with immigrant backgrounds are running for the 179-seat parliament this year. There are currently only three foreign-born MPs.
    The election was not originally due until 2009, however Rasmussen last month called an early vote for Nov. 13, hoping to ride a strong economy and record low unemployment to a third term.
    Rasmussen, 54, has been virtually neck-and-neck for most of the campaign with Social Democrat leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 40. But two polls published on Tuesday showed the pendulum now swinging back in his favour.
    Khader has vowed to back a new centre-right coalition under Rasmussen in exchange for tax reform, aid to poor nations raised to 1 percent of GDP and better treatment of refugees.
    But if Rasmussen were to fail to give The New Alliance what it wants, Khader has not ruled out supporting a Social Democrat-led coalition, although he says the Liberal party leader is still his main choice for Prime Minister.
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