TheCopenhagenPost
April 14th, 2015

Share

A member of the party interrupted proceedings at Folketinget (photo: Dukkepartiet.dk)

In recent months a lot of media attention has been paid to the efforts of two new political parties, Alternativet and Nationalpartiet, to collect enough signatures to compete in the upcoming general election.

Alternativet crossed the threshold of 20,260 signatures in February, and Nationalpartiet is nearing the goal with the help of its newest recruit Yahya Hassan.

And now a third newbie, the protest party Dukke Partiet (the Puppet Party), is closing in on the necessary number. It claims it needs fewer than 2,000 signatures.

READ MORE: Alternativet gathers necessary signatures to make ballot sheet 

READ MORE: Yahya Hassan to run as candidate for Nationalpartiet 

Up to 400 a day
Kasper Gevaldig, the founder of the party, told DR that the signatures for the party have been snowballing.

“We’ve been at it for a whole year, but we can see that it has recently been picking up speed. Last week we had 300-400 a day,” he said.

Gevaldig denies that the level of claimed support is just a gimmick, despite only 400 of the professed declarations being in physical form and 18,100 being digital. The Ministry of Economic and Interior Affairs is unable to confirm the figure until all 20,260 signatures have been gathered.

Nervous moments
Gevaldig is confident the party will reach the threshold in the near future, but is concerned that an election might come too soon for the party to be declared eligible.

“I think it could actually be realistic that it could happen within the next week,” he said.

“But we are a bit concerned that an election might be announced soon, so we are desperately trying to get the last 2,000 voter declarations.”

Not a happening
The Puppet Party is best known for its members taking part in debates clad in rubber masks and being involved in publicity stunts, such as a masked opera singer interrupting proceedings in Parliament, but Gevaldig claims it has a serious purpose.

“It’s frustration about how politics has become a ‘dance show’ with all the infighting that takes place at Christiansborg,” he said.

“We want politics to be politics again. We are not a happening.”

According to the constitution, the election must take place no later than 15 September.