Danish People’s Party leader Morten Messerschmidt is advocating for a return to “contractual politics” in Denmark, criticizing the current government for being disconnected from the needs of the people. Speaking at Folkemødet (The People’s Meeting) on Saturday, Messerschmidt argued that voters should be able to rely on politicians to keep their promises.

Messerschmidt stated that Denmark needs more, not less, contractual politics to ensure predictability and honesty in governance. He criticized the current SVM government for making policy decisions based on spreadsheets and being out of touch with the realities faced by Danish citizens.

The concept of contractual politics originates from the time when Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the Liberal Party served as Prime Minister. It refers to the idea that election promises made before an election should be considered the government’s contract with the voters.

However, subsequent Prime Ministers, including Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Lars Løkke Rasmussen, distanced themselves from this approach. They argued that contractual politics is difficult to maintain in a constantly changing world. Messerschmidt’s call represents a desire to return to a system where politicians are held accountable for fulfilling their campaign promises.