The Minority Party () is a former Danish

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

that did not gain parliamentary representation.

History

The Minority Party was founded in 2000 by a group of

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

groups. One of the party's primus motors were Rune Engelbreth Larsen, who was chairman of the party during the 2005 parliamentary election. Engelbreth Larsen was formerly known as editor of the intellectual left-wing dissident magazine Faklen (The Torch). During the 2005 election campaign, the Minority Party opposed the consensus among most Danish parties to tighten

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

controls further. The chairman of the party, Rune Engelbreth Larsen, went so far as to call the chairman of the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party (DPP; , DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP). The party saw a period of significant growth after its founding a ...

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. In the 2005 election, the Minority Party only got 0.3 percent of the votes and did not achieve parliamentary representation. Many saw this as a result of the offensive and confrontational way the party dealt with the

, but mostly that they failed to indicate what they wanted to change or influence in Danish politics.{{Citation needed, date=March 2008 The party did not seek representation in the 2007 election and was formally dissolved by the end of 2007.

Ideology

The party identified itself as

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

and officially rejected both

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

. Among its stated goals were

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

and the freedom to be different, to be achieved through economic and humanitarian support for groups considered marginalised (such as the unemployed and immigrants) and embracement of

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

. It specifically did not consider itself a "homeless" or "immigrant" party, but rather a party emphasizing common human dignity. Socialism was denounced on the grounds that it is potentially

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

and suppressive of the diversity of which the party proclaims itself supportive; it considered the notion of a great, suppressed

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

archaic. Rather, it thought that the perceived vulnerable parts of society are different from those of the 19th century. Liberalism was rejected by the party, stating that the accompanying freedoms are based around money and greed as opposed to human decency. The party strongly criticised

populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

and what it perceived as the political right's throwing suspicion on immigrants.

Key issues

Guaranteed minimum income Guaranteed minimum income (GMI), also called minimum income (or mincome for short), is a social-welfare spending, welfare system that guarantees all citizens or families an income sufficient to live on, provided that certain eligibility conditions ...

: a social benefit for all citizens. The basic income should match to the expenditures of a modest living standard. * Relaxation of the immigration laws, especially the repeal of the " 24-year rule", that makes it impossible for Danish citizens under 24 years to get foreign spouses to Denmark. * Resistance to the Danish membership of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. * Resistance to the activation of the unemployed. * Strengthening of the citizens' legal status against the authorities.

External links

Official website
Defunct political parties in Denmark Political parties of minorities Political parties established in 2000 Political parties disestablished in 2007 2000 establishments in Denmark 2007 disestablishments in Denmark