Danish People's Party

The Danish People's Party (DF ), dän. for Danish People's Party, is a right-wing populist party in Denmark. From 2001 to 2011 she worked in parliament Folketing firmly together with a liberal- conservative minority government.

Political positions

The Danish People's Party is set critical of the EU and advocates strict integration and immigration laws. Under their involvement, the integration legislation in Denmark was noticeably increased. Other issues and demands of the party are a more critical dealing with political Islam, the promotion of civil liberties, senior and family support, animal welfare, expansion of health care and a tightening of internal security laws. The DF sees himself as " the Centre Party."

As Mehrheitsbeschafferin a liberal- conservative government, it was the DF succeeded 2001-2011 enforce rigid immigration policy.

Formation and structure

The Danish People's Party was in 1995 the Progressive Party founded by Mogens Glistrup forth. The former party leader Pia Kjærsgaard left with Kristian Dahl Thulesen, Poul Nødgaard, Ole thunder among others the party in protest against the reactivation of the provocatively - querulantischen party founder. The DF took over the critical attitude towards immigration and the European Union, however, replaced the ultra-liberal, tax and subversive thrust of the Progressive Party by a social democratic influence social policy. This linkage of national welfare state and immigration hostility found in political science, the term " welfare state chauvinism ".

In contrast to the other Danish parties, DF has been tailored to their party leader Pia Kjærsgaard. Kjærsgaard used a hierarchical leadership style and certain external appearance of the party. Applicants for the list seats for the general election must be centrally approved by the party leadership. This should on the one hand to avoid intra-party disagreements, on the other hand could be so - in the version of the Management Board itself - right-wing elements of the party have been excluded. In August 2006, several local chairman of the DF were a covert search of the newspaper Ekstra Bladet victim after she had signaled its willingness to an ostensible member of the racist network Dansk take front in the party. With the publication of its response, the local politicians were excluded immediately from the party. In October 2006, a further nine members were expelled after they had accused the party leadership an unfree debate climate. Other members expressed similar criticism to be excluded, however.

Ideological classification

The DF is a right-wing populist party. From the political scientist Thomas Schubert, DF is " soft" and a so-called imputed by Richard Stöss a so-called "moderate" right-wing extremism. However, the party avoided any connection to neo-Nazism and care no international contacts with right-wing extremists. The party was dominated by ethno - nationalist xenophobia, anti-establishment populism, the welfare state chauvinism and nativism. This assignment, however, is not without controversy in political science because they are " a relatively aggregated- wide understanding of extremism " presupposes.

Steffen Kailitz writes:

"In this respect, in order to qualify as a party unequivocally right-wing extremist, their argument next wohlfahrtschauvinistischen statements also nationalist or racist slogans have a hevorgehobene importance. The Vlaams Blok appears in this respect about as right-wing extremist [ ... ] They thus represent overlooking the immigration Danish and Norwegian Progress Party as the FPÖ a much less extreme stance than about the FN, the REP and the Vlaams Blok. So distanzier (t ) s representatives about the Danish and Norwegian Progress parties like the Danish People's Party by right-wing extremist wing parties like the National Front. This distancing is given the clearly distinguishable from the FN positions of the Danish People's Party credible: [ ... ] "

From the perspective of the Danish historian and Holocaust experts Therkel Stræde from the University of Southern Denmark, however, justified in the Islamophobic be proposed by the DF of 2007 (see below) outcropping "extremely xenophobic nationalism " even a relationship between DF and Nazism, even if he states explicitly that the DF were not Nazis.

Basic Programme

The current policy statement was adopted in October 2002. Key messages are:

• Strengthening of national sovereignty, preservation of democracy, rule of law and monarchy
• Preservation of the special position of the Danish People's Church; Guarantee of faith and creed
• Protection of the right to freedom of expression in Denmark and worldwide
• Rejection of the European Union
• Effective law enforcement and speedy justice
• Strengthening the Dänentums at home and abroad
• Powerful social and health
• Protection of the family as the core unit of society
• Diligence and efficiency have to again pay
• Environmentally sound management of natural resources

In the general election in 1998, the young party took up the first time and achieved 7.4% of the vote, brought her 13 parliamentary seats. In 2001, the DF increased to 22 seats and has since played a key role in the Danish Parliament, while the Progress Party forfeited all mandates. In the general election of 2005, the DF rose 13.3% on the third strongest party in Denmark.

The Muslim protests, riots and death threats after the Mohammed cartoons strengthened the Danish People's Party in favor of the voters. Before the general election in 2007 the party was trying to profile with legislative proposals, some of which were referred to as open -discriminatory. Among other things, they wanted to ban the wearing of headscarves in public places, prayer rooms for Muslim employees in Danish companies and halal meat in kindergartens. When choosing the DF reached its best result to date with a vote share of 13.9 percent. In the general election in 2011 their income declined to 12.3 percent.

In the European elections of 2009, the party won 15.1 percent, two seats. Morten Messerschmidt and Anna Rosbach joined the Group for a Europe of freedom and democracy. However rosbach occurred in March 2011 out of the DF and the European Conservatives and Reformists over.

Chairman

• Pia Kjærsgaard 1995-2012
• Kristian Dahl Thulesen 2012 -

Others

After the establishment of the Danish People's Party in 1995 did not go unnoticed that had a party with the same name from 1941 to 1943 during the German occupation of Denmark, see Danish People's Party ( 1941). According to statements of the founders of the current party you had not been aware of this fact and keep them for insignificant.