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RETIREMENT: Morten Østergaard resigned as leader of the radical left on 8 October. Photo: Martin Sylvest / Ritzau Scanpix
A Metoo fighter who admitted sexual harassment himself, and allegations that management is closing the door on harassment cases have led to a lost case in the Danish government’s most important support party.
On Sunday, the leadership of the radical left will meet for what many describe as a crisis meeting in Denmark’s fourth largest party, DR writes.
The meeting follows heated discussions about who knew what in handling what former party leader Morten Østergaard himself has described as sexual abuse committed by himself against various women in the party.
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The party leader retired
It garnered a lot of attention when Danish presenter Sofie Linde on live TV spoke about the cross-border behavior of men in the media industry. Now, six weeks later, accusations of sexual harassment are stifling Danish politics.
On October 8, then-leader Morten Østergaard withdrew following allegations of sexual harassment from his party colleague and Member of Parliament Lotte Rod.
– I have failed in the Lotte Rod case. It was my hand that he removed from his thigh almost ten years ago. I have apologized without reservation and have received your forgiveness, Østergaard told a news conference.
Østergaard has led the Social Liberal Party since 2014. The party is a sister party to the Norwegian Venstre party.
– I can’t explain my mistakes. Instead, I must learn to live with them and the consequences of that, he writes in a Facebook post on October 9.
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First major case of metoo
On the same day Østergaard resigned, Deputy Director Sofie Carsten Nielsen took over the leadership of the party. On the same day, he was asked if he knew of any cases.
“I don’t,” Nielsen told reporters.
However, in a Facebook post on Wednesday this week, one of the party’s most prominent politicians, Ida Auken, came out and accused Carsten of doing nothing when she was warned about Østergaard’s abusive behavior in 2017.
Nielsen denied knowing the story.
– It makes me angry because we are going to be a party where you can be without being offended, he told the press about the Auken experience. But she denied having knowledge of other matters besides the one related to Lotte Rod.
The case is known as the first major #metoo case in Denmark. The Radical Left has been one of the parties that has spoken the most in the #meetoo confrontation. Now it is the party itself that gets to review.
Photo: Philip Davali / Ritzau Scanpix
The government’s most important supporting party
By Thursday this week, 236 people had resigned from the party, NTB reports. That is much more than in other weeks.
The Radical Left received 8.6 percent support in the 2019 parliamentary elections. This makes the party the fourth largest in Denmark with 16 representatives in the Folketing.
The party is a supporting party for the one-party government of Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen. The number of seats makes them one of the most important supporting parties in the government. With its 6,800 members, the party has also provided several green voters for the Social Democratic position.
