The Minority Party is former a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 that did not gain parliamentary representation.

History

The Minority Party is a Danish political party which was founded in 2000 by a group of minority

Minority group

A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...

 groups. One of the party's primus motors were Rune Engelbreht Larsen, who was chairman of the party during the 2005 parliamentary election

Danish parliamentary election, 2005

Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 8 February 2005. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Venstre retained the largest number of seats in parliament. The governing coalition between the Venstre and the Conservative People's Party remained intact, with the Danish People's Party...

. Engelbreht Larsen was formerly known as editor of the intellectual left-wing dissident magazine Faklen

Faklen

Faklen was a Danish intellectual magazine, debating humanism, contemporary Danish politics, education and philosophical themes, published in 21 issues in the period 1996–2001...

 (The Torch).

During the 2005 election campaign, the Minority Party opposed the consensus among most Danish parties to tighten immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

 controls further. The chairman of the party, Rune Engelbreht Larsen, went so far as to call the chairman of the nationalist Danish People's Party

Danish People's Party

The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard...

 a racist.

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 Danish People's Party

Danish People's Party

The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard...

, but mostly that they failed to indicate what they wanted to change or influence in Danish politics. The party did not seek representation in the 2007 election

Danish parliamentary election, 2007

The 66th Folketing election in Denmark was held on 13 November 2007. The election allowed prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of the Liberals and the Conservative People's Party with parliamentary support from the Danish People's...

 and was formally dissolved by the end of 2007.

Ideology

The party identified itself as humanist

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 and officially rejected both socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 and liberalism

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

. Among its stated goals were social justice

Social justice

Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...

 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

Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

. 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

Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...

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

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 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

Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

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

Key issues

• Guaranteed minimum income
  Guaranteed minimum income
  Guaranteed minimum income is a system of social welfare provision that guarantees that all citizens or families have an income sufficient to live on, provided they meet certain conditions. Eligibility is typically determined by citizenship, a means test and either availability for the labour...
  
  : 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
  24 year rule
  The 24 year rule is a rule in Danish immigration law meant to cut down forced marriages and family reunification immigration.The rule has four requirements...
  
  ", 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
  European Union
  The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
  
  .
• Resistance to the activation of the unemployed.
• Strengthening of the citizens' legal status against the authorities.