But opinion polls are suggesting that the current prime minister's minority coalition will be able to continue to govern the country.

There has been much campaign wrangling about the environment, welfare and tax reforms.

But all the main parties seem to agree on the core issues and campaigning has been more about who wields power than a change in direction for Denmark.

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called this poll because election rumours have been so widespread over the past couple of months that parliament had almost come to a standstill.

With difficult wage negotiations around the corner and a far-reaching package of reforms to increase the quality of welfare still to be negotiated, the prime minister said he needed a renewed mandate to continue.

Crusade

In the event the core problem for the minority Liberal conservative government is the emergence of the New Alliance party.

Under the leadership of a Syria-born Palestinian, Naser Khader, New Alliance has been doing well in the opinion polls.

New Alliance has made it a crusade to stem the influence on the government of the right-wing Danish People's Party, whose anti-immigration platform has become common currency in government in exchange for loyal parliamentary backing.

The latest opinion polls have predicted that even though support for New Alliance has waned, it will still be the deciding factor in who becomes the next prime minister.

And although Mr Khader has said his choice would be the current prime minister, it won't be without negotiations.

But with nine parties contesting the election and several of them hovering around the 2% electoral threshold, the election still seems wide open.

One thing is certain - even a change in government to the main opposition Social Democrats and Denmark's potential first woman prime minister would be unlikely to change Denmark's domestic or international politics to any major degree.

(BBC)

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