Dansk Folkeparti closed the first two hours of its annual meeting in Roskilde to the press and the public on Saturday, breaking with the open format used by Danish parties for years.
DR reports that the meeting opened behind closed doors on Saturday, September 26. Only party members who pay membership fees were admitted to that part of the program.
According to DR, the closed section covers the party accounts, the election of the main board and a scheduled free debate. Party leader Morten Messerschmidt met his party base without journalists present.
TV 2 reported on September 24 that the full organisational part of the meeting would be closed to the press. That includes the accounts, the free debate and the board election.
Once the board is elected and the debate ends, the doors open again. The party describes the later program as the year’s biggest political show, with speeches and talk shows. Tickets cost 125 kroner, and the press is welcome for that section.
Criticism from a former press chief
Søren Søndergaard was press chief for Dansk Folkeparti for 15 years and helped organize many annual meetings. He is now a senior adviser at Rud Pedersen, which works with public affairs and communication. Per DR, he calls the new format a warning sign.
Søndergaard says the party is closing in on itself, and that this is the wrong signal for a party in a democracy. As reported by DR, he points to a trend in the United States, Europe and Denmark of politicians tiring of journalists and their questions.
Helene Helboe Pedersen, a professor at Aarhus University, says the change can be read in more than one way. According to DR, she notes a risk that the party will be accused of hiding something. She also warns against equating openness with democracy without reservations.
Helboe Pedersen adds that openness carries a cost, because internal discussions can take on the character of a show rather than a real debate.
DF calls the format natural
Peter Kofod, political spokesperson for Dansk Folkeparti, says he does not understand the criticism. He tells DR that the closed section mainly concerns active, fee-paying members, and that the meeting belongs to them.
Asked whether the party is hiding something, Kofod says it would be a poor strategy to keep secrets in a room holding more than 1,000 people. He adds that the political course is set by the parliamentary group, not by the organisational part of the meeting.
DR notes that Dansk Folkeparti itself grew out of a party meeting that collapsed in public. Fremskridtspartiet’s 1995 national meeting ended in chaos, after which a group led by Pia Kjærsgaard left and founded Dansk Folkeparti.
Kofod rejects the claim that the party is on a confrontation course with the media. As stated by him to DR, he was giving interviews on the day itself.
