Danes to oust Social Democrat-led government

Danes voting today are set to eject the Social Democrat-led government by giving the centre-right a majority for the first time…

Danes voting today are set to eject the Social Democrat-led government by giving the centre-right a majority for the first time since 1929 after a campaign fought over immigration.

Opinion polls predict a stunning rebuff to veteran Prime Minister Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. He called a snap election last month in a gamble that voters would unite behind his leadership after the September 11th attacks on the United States.

The final Gallup poll this morning showed the Liberal-Conservative-led opposition would win 99 seats, and the Social Democrats, their Radical Liberal coalition partner and leftist supporters would hold 77 seats.

If the polls are right, the Liberals will take over as the country's biggest party from the Social Democrats for the first time since 1924 with 33 per cent of the vote. It would be the first centre-right majority since 1929.

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Under the slogan "Time For Change", Liberal leader Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former tax and economy minister, notably gained voters' support on pledges of tighter rules for asylum seekers and refugees.

"We have to make stricter laws so that fewer foreigners come to Denmark," Mr Fogh Rasmussen said in a final televised debate last night.