- Title: DENMARK: CANDIDATES VOTE IN GENERAL ELECTIONS.
- Date: 8th February 2005
- Summary: (W3) COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (FEBRUARY 8, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. GV/PAN/MV: PRIME MINISTER ANDERS FOGH RASSMUSSEN EXITING A POLLING BOOTH; CASTING HIS BALLOT AND POSING FOR THE MEDIA 0.48 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRIME MINISTER ANDERS FOGH RASSMUSSEN SAYING: "As I said many times before, I don't take anything for granted. I think we have a fair chance to continue as a government but as you can see it is a very close race." 1.03 3. GV: RASMUSSEN TALKING TO REPORTERS 1.06 4. GV/MV: INSIDE A POLLING STATION IN SCHOOL IN CENTRAL COPENHAGEN, VOTING COLLECTING THEIR BALLOT PAPERS (2 SHOTS) 1.13 5. GV/MV: SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER MOGENS LYKKETOFT ARRIVING AT DESK TO COLLECT BALLOT PAPERS; EXITING THE POLLING BOOTH; CASTING HIS BALLOT AND TURNING TO THE MEDIA (5 SHOTS) 1.46 6. GV: LYKKETOFT WALKING DOWN THE STEPS OF THE POLLING STATION HOLDING A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS 1.50 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOGENS LYKKETOFT SAYING: "I hope for the victory, of course. and I think opinion polls have been changing somewhat. We hope for the best." 2.00 8. MV: LYKKETOFT WALKING AWAY WITH HIS WIFE AND MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY 2.08 (BN08) COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (FEBRUARY 8, 2005) (REUTERS) 9. GV: VOTERS INSIDE THE POLLING STATION IN COPENHAGEN CITY HALL QUEUING UP 2.16 10. GV/MV: VOTERS ENTERING VOTING BOOTHS; DOG ENTERING BOOTH WITH HIS OWNER; VOTERS LINED UP; TWO WOMEN WITH PRAM POSTING THEIR VOTES IN BALLOT BOX (5 SHOTS) 2.40 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VOTER, RUNE QUIST, SAYING: "I used to vote for the Social Democrats but I do not like Mogens Lykketoft." 2.49 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VOTER, MAJ BIRTT URSIN, SAYING: "I don't like what they (the government) are doing on the foreign policy issues. It is completely wrong and what they are doing on so many other issues is completely wrong. We need a new government and I think the best way to make my vote count is to vote for Social Democrats." 3.05 13. TV: INTERIOR OF POLLING STATIONS 3.08 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 23rd February 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
- Country: Denmark
- Reuters ID: LVA5Y0NT2AM4ZE3P2604X8FX5J0G
- Story Text: As Denmark votes, early exit poll show centre-right
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen set to win a second term.
Danes voted on Tuesday (February 8, 2005) with an early
exit poll showing centre-right Prime Minister Anders Fogh
Rasmussen set to win a second term on the back of a popular
crackdown on asylum-seekers and cuts in Denmark's high
taxes.
An online exit poll by Zapera predicted a clear win for
Rasmussen and his right-wing allies with 99 of the 179
seats in parliament versus 76 for the centre-left bloc.
The 52-year-old Liberal leader, who began election day
handing out croissants to commuters, called a snap election
three weeks ago to capitalise on what he called a broad
feeling "that things are going pretty well in Denmark".
"As I said many times before, I don't take anything for
granted. I think we have a fair chance to continue as a
government but as you can see it is a very close race," he
told Reuters after voting.
Rasmussen, who came to power in 2001 and sent troops to Iraq to
help in the U.S.-led war, has warned that a Social
Democrat victory would "loosen up" tough asylum policies
which he boasts are being copied by European leaders like
Britain's Tony Blair.
The Social Democrats, facing their worst election in
decades, 90 years by one calculation, have fallen in
line on Iraq and asylum, though leader Mogens Lykketoft
said he would seek a "more positive moral and economic
integration" of immigrants.
He warned that the welfare system his party founded is
in danger from Rasmussen's tax cuts "and that frightens
me".
"I hope for the victory, of course. and I think
opinion polls have been changing somewhat. We hope for the
best," Lkketoft said on the steps of a polling station.
Laws passed in 2002 make it harder to bring foreign
spouses into Denmark and to qualify for asylum, and have
cut immigration sharply. Immigrants account for two percent
of the electorate.
"I used to vote for the Social Democrats but I do
not like Mogens Lykketoft," said , a Rune Quist voting at
Copenhagen's City Hall.
Lykketoft, a 59-year-old former minister, had a late
surge of support but not enough for an upset win, analysts
said.
Most newspapers were in little doubt: "The centre-right
bloc stands to win a clear victory today," read Berlingske
Tidende.
Police were on the alert after an intelligence warning
that Denmark's role in Iraq raised the risk of a terrorist
attack.
Although support for the war is waning and six out of
10 people now want the 500 troops withdrawn, Iraq has taken
a back seat in the campaign to the immigration debate.
One party favouring softer asylum laws, the Social
Liberals, were seen doubling their vote while the
anti-immigrant Danish People's Party, which is not in the
ruling coalition but helps it out in parliament, was seen
keeping its 22 seats.
"I don't like what they (the government) are doing on
the foreign policy issues. It is completely wrong and what
they are doing on so many other issues is completely wrong.
We need a new government and I think the best way to make
my vote count is to vote for Social Democrats," said voter
Maj Birtt Ursin.
Four million people were eligible to cast ballots in a
vote due to end at 1900 GMT, with definitive results by
2230 GMT.
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