RINGKØBING-SKJERN: Erik Viborg, who is the Liberal Party's group chairman in Ringkøbing-Skjern, has become the first to sign up to be his party's mayoral candidate after Mayor Hans Østergaard announced that he would step down at the next election.
Erik Viborg has been on the city council for almost 11 years and, in addition to being the group chairman, is also chairman of the culture and leisure committee. In his civilian life, he works as a project manager at Vestas, where he has been employed for almost 35 years. He is originally a trained mechanical engineer.
- I am 56 years old, so if it has to be, it has to be now. I think I have an o.k. ballast for the task with my political experience, he tells DK Nyt.
To be decided in October
He is currently the only candidate, and whether he will become the Liberal Party's mayoral candidate will be decided at a nomination meeting on a yet-to-be-determined date in October, according to Hans Christian Tylvad, the Liberal Party chairman in the municipality.
- Those who wish to run can register before that time. We have a proud tradition of having many members, and they will be the ones who will decide, he tells DK Nyt.
Jakob Agerbo (V), who was the group chairman in the previous period and now sits on the finance committee, informs DK Nyt that he is not running for mayor and that he would like to support Erik Viborg.
Fuglede is against renewable energy plants
KV25 looks exciting in Ringkøbing-Skjern, not least after Mads Fuglede switched from the Liberal Party to the Danish Democrats in the spring and in June registered as DD's mayoral candidate in the municipality, which he has lived in part-time since he became the Liberal Party's parliamentary candidate in the district in 2020.
Mads Fuglede mainly justifies his candidacy in opposition to the plans for a large, green energy park with solar and wind energy in the municipality.
The opposition to Megaton, as the planned park is called, reaches far into the Liberal Party, and Ringkøbing-Skjern Dagblad has previously described that forces in the party were planning to get Mads Fuglede to run as a mayoral candidate while he was still a member.
Other than Megaton
However, both Hans Christian Tylvad and Erik Viborg are confident that the party can retain its position after the next election.
- It is a joint city council that is behind us being more self-sufficient, and we will find some compromises on how big Megaton should be, says Hans Christian Tylvad and is supplemented by Erik Viborg:
- Renewable energy plants and solar cells have been a big deal in the last couple of years. But the plans have gone from being 4,000 hectares with solar cells to something completely different, where we are now talking about 1,000 hectares, which will be placed on low-lying soils and poor agricultural land. And it will not be something that we drag down over the heads of a local area, he says and adds that he would hope that journalists would also ask about other things than renewable energy.
- Fuglede only has one agenda. We are in a slightly different place in the Liberal Party. Megaton occupies a lot of space, but there are also many other important issues, such as the children's and family area, where we are known for having many smaller schools, which we try to maintain because we are the country's largest geographical municipality, adds Erik Viborg.
More mayoral bids
Ringkøbing-Skjern is traditionally Liberal country, and the party has also held the mayor's post since the municipality was created as a merger of Ringkøbing, Skjern, Egvad, Holmsland and Videbæk municipalities. After KV17, the Christian Democrats' Kristian Andersen was close to winning the post, but Hans Østergaard (V) landed it in an agreement with the Social Democrats.
The Liberal Party currently has 11 members of the 29-person city council, KD has six, and the Social Democrats have four.
Erik Viborg predicts that other parties may also come up with candidates for the mayor's post.
- The political sky looks a little different now that the Liberal Alliance is also a player, and the Moderates are also trying to establish themselves. There are many question marks, but I believe that the mayor's post will go to the Liberal Party, he says.
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