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Fremskrittspartiet
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Fremskrittspartiet (literally, The Progress Party) is an right-wing populist [1] political party in Norway. It is best known internationally for its association with Anders Behring Breivik, a former member of the party's youth-wing.[1] The party is known for appealing to both moderates and extremists by speaking with "two voices" — different politicians communicating to different audiences,[1] as exemplified by a seeming discontinuity between Siv Jensen's rants about "creeping Islamicization" and the party's announcement to deny membership to people involved in the Islamophobic group SIAN.[note 1]
History
| —Carl I. Hagen, who basically was the party[2] |
The party's politics have changed back and forth through time. The party was established in the 1970s by Anders Lange as a Norwegian version of the tea baggers,[3] campaigning for sweeping tax cuts and starve the beast-style attacks on public expenditure. The founder is infamous for having voiced support of the apartheid regime in South Africa, but also for reputedly having received financial support from them.[4]
From its humble beginnings as a single-purpose party with an all-powerful leader, it evolved under Carl I. Hagen's leadership into a democratic and moderately popular libertarian party with a full political platform. However, in 1994, in an unprecedented move, Hagen expelled all its high-ranking libertarian members in a mass cleansing at the yearly congress. The congress was held at a place called Bolkesjø, and, as a pun, the event is often referred to as "Dolkesjø": "Dagger Lake". Left were only the populists, with Hagen as the undisputed ruler, and his 'statement politics'. That would be the turning point in the party's transition from libertarianism to pure-bred right-wing populism, and its subsequent rise to power, the party which we know today.
Today
The party entered its first cabinet, a coalition with the Conservative Party, in 2013. As a party popular with protest voters, the moderation of the party and its transition from opposition to office under Siv Jensen's leadership has had a significant negative impact on its poll results.
So what political issues do they support?
Basically whatever the individuals of the party want them to at the moment, regardless of any underlying principles or ideology. Some longstanding and time-tested issues, however, are:
- Opposition to immigration, especially the immigration of Muslims. This is how the party really attracts voters.
- Preserving Norway's Christian heritage – opposition to the ongoing secularization of society[5]
- Law & order – more cops and harsher punishment for criminals
- Tax cuts, especially for car owners .[6]
- Increased public spending using money from the oil fund
- Moderate anti-environmentalism
- Improving the road infrastructure
- Cheaper booze
High ranking party members have often been compared to the French party Front National of Jean-Marie Le Pen.[7] although they probably have more in common with more moderate populist parties such as Alternativ für Deutschland and UK Independence Party in that they are less blatantly racist than Le Pen's party.
The Progress Party is likely to have its most hardcore base move over to a new, supposedly centrist but actually climate-change-denying,[8] racist,[9] and extremely anti-immigrant party, Selvstendighetspartiet (The Independence Party).
Nevertheless, as of 2019 The Progress Party continued to try to appeal to voters by using conspiracy theory motifs, such as allusions to a great replacement.[10]
Notable members
- Anders Behring Breivik, a mass murderer, was a member of the party for a period of several years and the party's deputy youth leader in Oslo. He did, however, leave the party in 2007, deeming them too moderate.
- Siv Jensen
– party leader since 2006. - Sylvi Listhaug, who advocates that immigrants return to their countries of origin voluntarily and who, as health minister, stated that people should be allowed to eat, drink and smoke as much as they please[11]
- Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of parliament for the party, and a noted islamophobe and climate change denier.
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ For more details, see SIAN#Incidents.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Norway election results: Anti-immigrant party with links to mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik set to enter government under Conservative leader Erna Solberg, The Independent, 10 September 2013
- ↑ Aftenposten, Oct 20. 2011
- ↑ Similar to its Danish namesake at the time, a splinter faction of which became the Danish People's Party. However, the Norwegian Progress Party has stuck to a somewhat libertarian economic doctrine, while the DPP has embraced a pro-welfare state populism.
- ↑ Frp i rasismekrangel, Dagbladet, 23 November 2012
- ↑ [no source]
- ↑ [1], Verdens gang, 6 October 2016
- ↑ Venstres nestleder Olaf Thommessen mener Carl I. Hagen nå har plassert seg en gang for alle ytterst til høyre med Le Pen og Haider, Nettavisen, 14 July 2004
- ↑ https://krill-magenta-3lgc.squarespace.com/partiprogram
- ↑ Gilje, Caroline Teinum, «Forsker: – Åpenbart et rasistisk partiprogram» ("Researcher: Obviously a racist party program"), Dagsavisen, February 5th, 2019. Paywall; accessed May 15th, 2019
- ↑ Terje Emberland,« Fremskrittspartiets konspirasjonssnakk» ("The Fremskrittparti's conspiracy talk"), Verdens Gang, Sep. 20, 2019, accessed Sep. 20, 2019.
- ↑ BBC News, "Let people smoke, drink and eat red meat - Norwegian health minister," May 7th, 2019