Elisabet Svane has seen a lot in the years she has covered Danish politics. Still, the turbulence in the right-wing parties over the past few days has been »pretty wild« to watch unfold.
First, Borgernes Parti (BP) expelled its second-largest vote-getter, Jacob Harris, and now Liberal Alliance (LA) has said goodbye to its newly elected member of Parliament, Cecilie Liv Hansen:
»It’s a defeat for Liberal Alliance, but together with Harris’ departure, it’s also really bad for the blue bloc«, explains Politiken’s political analyst, Elisabet Svane.
In the parliamentary election, 2,569 voters marked their ballots for 24-year-old Cecilie Liv Hansen in the South Jutland constituency. In addition to being newly elected to Folketinget, she also holds a seat on the Kolding municipal council and on the regional council of the Region of Southern Denmark.
»It’s a double mess, because she managed to land a triple mandate, and there aren’t many of those. That’s why it hits extra hard«.
More drugs in LA
On Saturday night, Liberal Alliance announced that the 24-year-old politician had been expelled from the party because of »false information of a substantial nature«.
On Sunday, parliamentary group chairman Ole Birk Olesen explained that Cecilie Liv Hansen’s partner had been involved in selling illegal intoxicants, raising questions about the young politician’s judgment.
He also said that Cecilie Liv Hansen lied to the party when she was asked about the rumors.
According to Elisabet Svane, it is a »really bad case« for Liberal Alliance. Not many weeks have passed since the party’s leader, Alex Vanopslagh, admitted that he had used cocaine:
»The fact that she didn’t tell the truth to the party means they have a very good reason to expel her. That’s a no-go in the political world. That said, a case involving drugs is the last thing LA needs, and I think that’s partly why they reacted so quickly«.
In a comment on Facebook, her partner confirms that he has sold cannabis, but writes that Cecilie Liv Hansen did not know about it or have any involvement.
Afterward, the 24-year-old commented on the case herself in a Facebook post, saying that she resigned at the party’s request and that the matter involved »empty accusations«, most of which are »untrue«. The post has since been deleted.
Politiken has tried to reach both the partner and Cecilie Liv Hansen, but neither has responded. LA does not wish to comment further on the case.
A fragile majority
Cecilie Liv Hansen’s departure is not just sending tremors through Liberal Alliance. According to Svane, together with Harris’ departure, it will be felt across the entire blue bloc.
»The center-right parties were already very far from a majority. Now, even before the real negotiations have begun, they’ve lost two seats. They didn’t have many chances before, and now there are practically none«.
If the center-right parties are to get to 90 seats, the arithmetic has to include not only them, but also Moderaterne (M) and a Faroese MP:
»There was already very little appetite – not to say no appetite – on Løkke’s side to go with the center-right, and now it’s even more fragile«, she says.
If independents are counted, they could fight their way up to 92 seats. But that scenario isn’t exactly a gimme, either:
»I don’t think seasoned politicians will build their political stability on one or more independents«, Svane says.
Taking the long view, the political analyst believes that both Jacob Harris’ and Cecilie Liv Hansen’s departures are a wake-up call for every party right now:
»This case shows just how important it is for parties to really vet the candidates they nominate. LA may feel they did that here. But they clearly didn’t do it well enough«.
