Danish People's Party
- For other parties named Danish People's Party, see Danish People's Party (Disambiguation)
Danish People's Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Pia Kjærsgaard |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Christiansborg 1240 København K |
| Ideology | Populist-nationalism, Populist-conservatism |
| International affiliation | Union for a Europe of Nations |
| Website | |
| http://www.danskfolkeparti.dk/ | |
The Danish People's Party (Danish: Dansk Folkeparti) is a nationalist political party in Denmark. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, it took 24 seats out of 179 (an increase of 2 seats), on 13.3% of the vote, making it the third largest party in Denmark. As of 2006, the party is the third-most popular party in Denmark, following Venstre and the Social Democrats.
Its chairwoman is Pia Kjærsgaard. In the European Parliament its single MEP (Mogens Camre) sits as a member of the Union for a Europe of Nations grouping.
History
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The party was founded on October 6, 1995, after Pia Kjærsgaard, Kristian Thulesen Dahl, Poul Nødgaard and Ole Donner left the Progress Party. The party made its electoral debut in the 1998 Danish parliamentary election winning 13 seats. Later, in a dramatic election in 2001 they won 22 seats. They became the third largest party in the parliament and supported the Conservative-Liberal coalition government, headed by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in exchange for the implementation of some of their key demands such as strong anti-immigration policies. The party won 24 seats in the 2005 election.
In 2006, the party's popularity rose dramatically in opinion polls following the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, at the expense of Social Democrats. This effect largely waned with the falling media attention to the cartoons controversy [1].
Politics
The party's main politics are:
- An anti-immigration platform, and it opposes a multiethnic society
- To improve conditions for the elderly
- To oppose a reduction of Denmark's sovereignty by the EU
- Lower taxation
- Opposition to forceful government behavior
The cooperation with the Conservative-Liberal coalition government resulted in the implementation of some of their key demands, such as strong anti-immigration policies resulting in what has been described as Europe's strictest immigration laws. The new government enacted rules that forbade Danish citizens bringing a foreign spouse into the country unless both partners were aged 24 or over, passed a solvency test showing the Dane had not claimed social security for 12 months and had to lodge a bond of 55,241 kroner (about 9300 USD). [2] These new rules had the effect that while about 8,151 family reunification permits were granted in 2002, the number had fallen to 3,525 by 2005. [3] Some social benefits for refugees were also cut by 30% to 40% during their first seven years in the country.
The changes to Denmarks immigration laws, have drawn some criticism from the Swedish government, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner. In a response to the criticism from the Swedish government Pia Kjaersgaard said: "If they want to turn Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmoe into a Scandinavian Beirut, with clan wars, honour killings and gang rapes, let them do it. We can always put a barrier on the Oeresund Bridge." [4]
Controversy
The party has been part of controversy, especially because of their critical position towards, and arguments against, immigration, immigrants and Muslims.[5][6][7] Among others from the party, the party leader, Pia Kjærsgaard, has been accused of racism several times.[8] In 2003, Pia Kjærsgaard lost a libel suit in the Danish Supreme Court against a political opponent who had characterized her viewpoints as racist.[9]
Enhedslisten opened a homepage in 2002 called magtenspris.dk (lit. the price of power). It summarises how members of Danish People's Party in municipality councils have voted, revealing some cut-backs on welfare.
A party spokesman, Søren Krarup, has said that “Muslim immigration is a way for Muslims to conquer us, just as they have done 1,400 years past.” According to Le Monde of December 11, 2005, an imam requested the censure of a Danish People’s Party deputy who, speaking in Parliament, drew a comparison between Muslim women who wear headscarves and bikers who sport swastikas. (from UN report E/CN.4/2006/17)
It should be added that this is what the Party's foes say about the Danish People's Party. In no ways this article should be considered objective. Rather, I'd say that it has been written by a supporter of the extreme left party, the tiny Enhedslisten. Why, otherwise, refer to a homepage made by it that attacks the compromises the Danish People's Party's borough council members have taken part in? And the accusations against Pia Kjærsgaard for racism and the lost case of libel action? The Supreme Court reached the conclusion that the word 'racist' had turned into a common invective with no real meaning.
And on the headscarves. In Turkey, the wearing of headscarves is considered a political, Islamist symbol in excactly the same way as does the swastika in Germany. Consequently, it is forbitten "in the public space".
Finally, I don't think the party would agree in what is said about it being against 'Muslims'. Instead, they'd say that they are against Islam as a total, all-emcompassing political, legal, economic and religious system - against what other people call islamism.
The Popularity of DPP
The DPP have been surrounded by controversy ever since the party was originally founded. However, starting with a modest ammount of votes, the party has grown at every single election since then. While the immigration policy is of course of importance to the party, there are other issues that add to the popularity of the party:
- The Ideological Novelty
- The DPP combines strong support for the welfare state, and particularly benefits for pensioners, with strongly conservative policies on immigration and law and order. As such it is distinctive from the two mainstream parties and offers policies which appeal across traditional political dividing lines.
- The EU Policy
- In Denmark, only two parties have been against all new EU treaties throughout their existence. Those parties are DPP and Enhedslisten. The EU is an important issue in Denmark, with public opinion broadly sceptical - hence the rejection of most EU treaties in the last decade, most notably the Euro. The DPP has managed to harness this scepticism in a more populist way than the left-leaning Enhedslisten.
- "The Common Man"
- Pia Kjærsgaard, a former nurse, is distinctive from the traditional political class of economists and academics. She is seen as less elitist and more in touch than many politicians, thus giving her a powerful appeal to those disenchanted with Danish politics. Combined with the DPP's populist policies, this has given her strong support amongst working-class and lower-middle class voters, and those who feel removed from the elitist political classes.
Quotes
- "All the countries in the West are infiltrated by the Muslims - some of them speak to us nicely, while they wait to become enough to kill us"
- Script for Mogens Camres speech, distributed to the media during Danish People's Party's annual meeting (September 16, 2001). Note: when giving the speech, Camre actually said "become enough to get rid of us" instead.
- "It has been mentioned that 9/11 became the cause for a 'clash of civilizations'. I don't agree. Because a clash of civilizations would require that there were two civilizations, and that is not the case. There is only one civilization, and that is ours"
- "The Social Security Act is passé, because it was appropriate for a Danish family tradition and work ethics and not for Muslims for whom it is decent to be economically supported by others, while the wife gives birth to a whole lot of children. The children benefit cheque is abused, since a foreigner gains record earnings due to a small dozen of children. Gang rape punishments must be changed, because the problem only has arrived with the many acts of vandalism by the anti-social second generation immigrants."
- Pia Kjærsgaard's weekly letter (February 25, 2002)
See also
References
External links
- Template:Da icon Dansk Folkeparti - Official site
- Template:En icon Dansk Folkeparti - Official site
