Denmark's center-right coalition to form new gov't

The Danish opposition Liberal Party leader Lars Loekke Rasmussen was on Friday tasked with forming a new government after the center-right opposition coalition beat the incumbent center-left government in the 2015 parliamentary election held Thursday.

A so-called "queen round" was launched on Friday afternoon, where leaders of all parties winning seats in parliament visited Queen Margrethe II and gave their party's recommendations for the next prime minister.

Rasmussen was then given a mandate to form a majority government, according to Danish public broadcaster DR.

He will summon all the parliamentary parties for negotiations on Saturday at Christiansborg, the seat of the Danish parliament, to explore the possibility of forming a new government.

Denmark's center-right blue bloc garnered 90 seats in Thursday's election, ensuring a majority in the 179-member Danish parliament. And the lead of negotiations to form a new government makes it certain that 51-year-old Rasmussen will get Denmark's top political job.

Incumbent Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt, who stepped down as chairwoman of the Social Democratic Party after the ruling coalition lost the election, officially tendered her resignation mid-Friday to Queen Margrethe II.

Her government now performs a caretaker role before the new government is formed.

Rasmussen can choose either to form a single-party government or try to get one or more parties in blue bloc to form a coalition government. Endit