Syrian-Born Khader May Be Kingmaker After Danish Vote

Nov. 9 -- The man who'll probably choose Denmark's leader after next week's elections is a Syrian native heading a political party that's just 6 months old.

Naser Khader, a member of parliament who was 11 when his family came to Denmark in 1974, started the New Alliance party to counter the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, which backs Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's coalition government.

Polls suggest voters will give New Alliance at least six of the parliament's 179 seats on Nov. 13, and leave both Rasmussen's tax-cutting coalition and Social Democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt's pro-welfare opposition bloc just short of a majority.

With Khader's votes needed to form a government, Denmark may move away from some of its recent anti-immigration tendencies and back toward Scandinavia's more open-armed traditions. On other issues, his intentions are less certain.

``The New Alliance is going to hold the balance of power,'' said Stig Hjarvard, a professor of political journalism at Copenhagen University. ``The question is what demands they're going to make.''

Khader, previously a member of the opposition bloc's Social Liberal Party, is more conservative on economic issues, and a Conservative People's Party lawmaker helped him form New Alliance. Khader has indicated that he'd prefer to back Rasmussen, 54, under whom Danes have enjoyed tax cuts and the lowest unemployment in 33 years.

Veto Power

At the same time, it's hard to see how Khader could work with the People's Party, which provided the votes Rasmussen needed for his Liberal Party and the Conservative Party to form the coalition government that came to power in 2001. ``We want to get rid of the veto that the Danish People's Party has had over Danish politics,'' Khader told TV2 News after debating its leader, Pia Kjaersgaard, on Nov. 6.

Though its votes kept the coalition in power, the People's Party didn't join the government, so it has no ministers. Yet it has set much of the Denmark's political agenda in recent years, demanding limits on foreigners allowed into the country.

It was a driving force behind a 2002 law that prevents Danes younger than 24 from bringing foreign spouses into the country. The government says the rule is designed to prevent arranged marriages.

Some People's Party members are especially scornful of Muslims, who make up 3.5 percent of Denmark's population. In 2002, Jesper Langballe, a lawmaker and Lutheran clergyman, called Islam a ``plague'' and a ``time bomb'' in Europe. In April, another priest in parliament, Soeren Krarup, compared Islam with Nazism.

Iraqi Work Permits

Khader, himself a Muslim, said he wants to change the tone of Danish politics. His party wants increased foreign aid and a more ``humane'' asylum policy. It is demanding that Iraqis whose asylum applications were rejected be granted work permits while they wait until it's safe to go home.

``Pia's very, very good to animals,'' Khader said on TV2, when asked what he thought of her. ``Now it's time to be good to asylum seekers.''

The hostility between Khader, 44, and Kjaersgaard, 60, may open the way for Thorning-Schmidt's opposition bloc to woo New Alliance.

``We're miles apart,'' Kjaersgaard said after the debate with Khader. ``The things he wants to push through he can easily achieve by turning to Helle Thorning-Schmidt.''

Khader and Kjaersgaard will meet for another televised head-to-head debate in Copenhagen tonight.

Coming Up Short

Rasmussen's government had a 94-85 parliamentary advantage after the last election, in 2005. The latest polls for four leading newspapers and television stations give Rasmussen enough support to win 82 to 87 seats, the Social Democrats and their allies 81 to 86 and the New Alliance six to nine.

Thorning-Schmidt, 40, has guaranteed Khader a Cabinet post if he helps her form a government. Rasmussen has declined to match that. And Khader has sidestepped demands to be more specific about his own post-election plans.

Hjarvard said that ``Rasmussen will have to make some concessions'' beyond immigration policy to work with Khader. New Alliance wants to cut the maximum income-tax rate to 40 percent from 63 percent, a move that likely would require raising other taxes to compensate. So Rasmussen may have to agree to relax the government's self-imposed ban on increasing any form of taxation.

Tax-Cut Rollback

Taxes and spending on Denmark's cradle-to-grave welfare system are at the center of the campaign. Thorning-Schmidt says she would roll back modest middle-income tax cuts enacted last month and spend that revenue -- 9.5 billion kroner ($1.9 billion) -- on improving child care and other social services.

``We'll pull Anders Fogh Rasmussen in our direction,'' Khader told TV2. ``There are lots of Liberal-Conservative members behind the scenes who agree with us, and I think Pia Kjaersgaard will end up alone.''

Kjaersgaard told TV2 on Nov. 2 that she's ``absolutely capable'' of working with Khader but ``it won't be easy.'' And a government relying on support from both, she added, would have ``the prospect of a very brief term, and then there may have to be another election.''