In the hectic prelude to the national meeting in Kolding, the SF chairman may not quite look like what she sees herself as. A pathfinder in a red bloc, where the Radicals and the Unity List’s criticism of the S-government has several times expressed itself in election threats.
But that is nonetheless the role that SF wants to take on.
– I strongly believe in constantly seeking solutions. Search the roads and try to be a little pathfinder in what can be very conflict-filled, says Pia Olsen Dyhr.
That approach to politics has apparently worked. While Pia Olsen Dyhr herself highlights SF’s political results, the parties’ strengths at Christiansborg are also often measured in opinion polls. Here, SF has been on a remarkable journey.
In February 2014, SF was almost in dissolution after the party’s exit from the Thorning government. Voxmeter then measured SF to just 2.4 percent of the vote, but that number has more than tripled to 8.8 percent in the latest poll.
– I have been on the whole journey from chaos in SF to enthusiasm. I think it is because we have moved away from constantly discussing SF’s inner life to actually discussing politics and providing solutions, says Pia Olsen Dyhr.
Question: You are sometimes accused of being auxiliary social democrats who do not push the government enough so that you can get your policy through. What do you say to that criticism?
– I think results speak for themselves. The Social Democrats were against minimum standards in the election. It has become a reality.
– The Social Democrats were against a 70 percent CO2 target in the election. It has become a reality.
– The Social Democrats did not think we should clean up after the major generational pollution around Denmark. It has become a reality.
– The results must be what the voters measure us on – not what some want to refer to SF as, says Pia Olsen Dyhr.
At this weekend’s national meeting, a key message will be that the progress will now be translated into more posts in the country’s municipal councils and regional councils in the elections in November.
In the election campaign, SF’s key issues will include a boost to the primary school, clean drinking water and safe births.
– We have delivered on minimum standards in day care institutions. Now we think that it is the slightly older children’s turn, and therefore the primary school must be lifted.
– At the same time, it is more than half of all drinking water wells where we find pesticides at the moment. That is completely unacceptable. Not least because in Denmark, unlike many other countries, we drink water directly from the tap. It is unique and we need to take care of it.
– And then there are the births. I myself had an 18-hour birth, and the thought of being put in a taxi during the birth is probably the most insecure feeling I can imagine, says Pia Olsen Dyhr.
She expects that SF’s pragmatic approach to politics will be rewarded in the local elections on 16 November.
– We are in the polls right now for nine to ten percent of the vote. I hope we can get there, says Pia Olsen Dyhr, who also wants to turn an election victory into mayoral posts.
– I have a high expectation that we will have more SF mayors in Denmark. I expect Tonni Hansen to be allowed to continue as mayor of Langeland. But I also hope we can get more mayors. Among others Villy Søvndal in Kolding, says Pia Olsen Dyhr.
Source: The Nordic Page