Independent Greens (Denmark)

Independent Greens – Denmark's New Left-wing Party
Frie Grønne – Danmarks nye venstrefløjsparti
AbbreviationFG
LeaderSikandar Siddique
FoundersSikandar Siddique
Uffe Elbæk
Susanne Zimmer
Niko Grünfeld
Founded7 September 2020; 3 years ago (2020-09-07)
Split fromThe Alternative
Membership (2022)296[1]
IdeologyGreen politics
Political positionLeft-wing
ColoursShades of white:
         
Folketing
0 / 179[a]
Municipal councils
0 / 2,436
Election symbol
Website
friegronne.dk

The Independent Greens – Denmark's New Left-Wing Party (Danish: Frie Grønne – Danmarks nye venstrefløjsparti), or simply the Independent Greens (Danish: Frie Grønne) (Q), is a left-wing political party in Denmark. It was founded 7 September 2020 by four former members of The Alternative: Sikandar Siddique, Uffe Elbæk, and Susanne Zimmer, who were members of the Danish parliament, and Niko Grünfeld, member of Copenhagen City Council.[2] The party leader is Sikandar Siddique. Elbæk was founder and leader of The Alternative from 2013 to 2020.

The Independent Greens describe themselves as left wing and a "responsible, climate-conscious and anti-racist party".[3]

History

Sikandar Siddique, Uffe Elbæk, Susanne Zimmer, and Niko Grünfeld left The Alternative following allegations that new leader Josephine Fock had harassed members of the party. Three weeks after her election on 1 February, Dagbladet Information published the allegations from anonymous sources. Fock narrowly survived a motion of no confidence by The Alternative's executive board following the allegations in March 2020, after which Elbæk was handed an ultimatum by his constituency's local party branch to back Fock or have his support withdrawn. Elbæk chose to leave the party on 7 March, followed by Siddique, Zimmer and Rasmus Nordqvist; Grünfeld had already left the party on 28 February. Nordqvist subsequently joined the Socialist People's Party, while Fock would resign as leader of The Alternative on 14 November.

Ahead of the 2022 Danish general election, The Alternative's new leader Franciska Rosenkilde offered the Independent Greens and Vegan Party a chance to form a united list to increase the chances of green representation in the Folketing, as all three parties were polling below the threshold.[4] Siddique dismissed the plan.[5] Elbæk later called for the Independent Greens and Alternative to merge,[6] and eventually rejoined the old party,[7][8] reducing the number of sitting FG MPs to two.

In the election, the Independent Greens received 0.9% of the vote, falling below the 2% threshold to retain their seats in the Folketing. They were the second-smallest registered party in terms of vote share, ahead of only the Christian Democrats.

Election results

Parliament

Election Votes % Seats +/- Government
2022 31,787 0.9 (#13)
0 / 179
 New Extra-parliamentary

Notes

  1. ^ Only 175 of the 179 seats in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, are obtainable by Danish political parties as Greenland and the Faroe Islands are assigned two seats each due to their status as territories in the Kingdom of Denmark.

References

  1. ^ Hoffmann-Hansen, Henrik; Nilsson, Simone; Jespersen, Johan Storgaard; Krasnik, Benjamin; Fabricius, Kitte; Schmidt, Mara Malene Raun; Gosmann, Mie Borggreen Winther og Sara Mathilde (2022-10-03). "Overblik: Partierne i Danmark". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  2. ^ "Danish parliamentarians split off to form 'green, anti-racist party'". The Local. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  3. ^ "A radical new green party for Denmark – welcome to the Independent Greens (Frie Grønne)". 6 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Alternativet inviterer Frie Grønne og Grøn Alliance ind i partiet - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  5. ^ "Frie Grønne-leder afviser at indgå i Alternativet - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  6. ^ "Uffe Elbæk: Frie Grønne og Alternativet bør slå sig sammen". www.avisen.dk. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  7. ^ @uffeelbaek (September 19, 2022). "Okay….så er jeg virkelig tilbage på mit gamle hold. Det her er det første synlige bevis. Har nemlig været i DR og fortælle om min beslutning om at komme tilbage til @alternativet_ og hvorfor det er så vigtigt, at der er en klar grøn stemme i Folketinget. Også efter næste valg" (Tweet) (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-09-19 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Uffe Elbæk har meldt sig ud af Frie Grønne, som han selv stiftede: Nu vil han tilbage i Alternativet | Seneste nyt". DR (in Danish). 16 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-19.

External links