Red and blue parties unite against the government in protest against the ban on burning the Quran.
According to TV2, citing Ritzau, most parliamentary parties (excluding the three ruling parties) have joined forces to protest the government's plans to ban the burning of the Quran. These parties are the SF, the Danish Democrats (Danmarksdemokraterne), the Liberal Alliance, the Conservative Party (Det Konservative Folkeparti), the Unity List (Enhedslisten), the Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti), and the New Citizens Party (Nye Borgerlige). Together, these parties hold 72 seats in the Danish parliament.
They wrote in a joint statement that “the veto exercised by the offender (i.e., Islamic countries) should not be applied and should not frame Danish politics and Danish democracy. … The government is thus opening the door and sending signals that Iranians living here cannot burn the hijab in sympathy with the courageous women in Iran, just as those sympathetic to Tibet will have to be hidden during Chinese state visits,” according to the joint statement from the seven parties from the right and left wings (i.e., the Blue and Red parties).
Thus, the two parties that did not participate in the bloc opposing the government's plan to ban the burning of the Quran in front of embassies are the Alternative Party and the Radical Venstre Party.
Criticizing religions is part of Danish culture.
In recent months, copies of the Quran have been burned in Denmark and Sweden, causing outrage in a number of Muslim countries. This led Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on Sunday to say that he had asked Justice Ministry officials to prepare a model for how to limit the burning of the Quran in front of foreign embassies.
According to the source, the leader of the Danish People's Party, Morten Messerschmitt, told Ritzau on Wednesday evening: “Religious criticism is part of Danish and Western culture. Therefore, it is worrying that the government is yielding to threats from other countries and groups. Instead of going to its knees (i.e., submitting) to the authoritarian world in the Middle East, it should have formed an alliance with freedom-loving countries in the West – just as we did in the Mohammed crisis. Through a joint alliance, it should have made it clear to these countries that there are certain fundamental rights that are upheld in the West and that we are not prepared to compromise on them.”.
Security or freedom
TV2 asked Morten Messersmette: “The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) told Ritzau on Tuesday that burning the Quran increased the terrorist threat against Denmark. You place great importance on the fact that this concerns Danish freedoms. What should be more important here? The safety of citizens or their freedom?” Morten Messersmette replied that both go hand in hand, as you cannot have security without freedom.
