Common Course

Common Course (Danish: Fælles Kurs) was a political party in Denmark, which held 4 seats in the Danish parliament Folketinget 1987-1988.

History

Common Course was officially formed in 1986,^[1] but it was built on several factions of the Communist Party of Denmark which were planning the emergence of a new party as early as 1979. The party's leader was Preben Møller Hansen, writer, cook, and leader of the Danish sailors' union, who was expelled from the Communist Party of Denmark in 1979. He was known for his outspoken way of expressing himself, frequently using swearwords, making broad generalizations and anti-elitist statements. The party itself gathered both communists and left-wing socialists, united in an inveterate struggle against EU membership. Its official immigration policy was quite restrictive, contrary to other parties on the left. It actively supported communist regimes in the Soviet Union, Cuba, and North Korea, as well as Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi in Libya, and was a collective member of organizations supporting these regimes.

In the national parliamentary elections in 1988, the party achieved 1.9% of the votes, thereby failing to pass the 2% election threshold. In an attempt to regain parliamentary representation, Common Course started cooperating with Mogens Glistrup's right-wing Progress Party, causing many members to flee. The attempt failed, the party was dissolved in 2001, and members were recommended to join the Communist Party of Denmark instead (member of the Red-Green Alliance since 1991).

The current member of Folketinget Line Barfod (Red-Green Alliance) is a former member of Common Course, and was chairperson of its youth wing 1984-1985 (before the actual formation of the party).

References