Denmark just got a brand spanking new political party.
The new party, named Fremad, has been started by two former prominent members of Liberal Alliance (LA), Simon Emil Ammitzbøll-Bille and Christina Egelund, who left the party in the internal strife that followed a miserable General Election this summer.
The new party, named Fremad, has been started by two former prominent members of Liberal Alliance (LA), Simon Emil Ammitzbøll-Bille and Christina Egelund, who left the party in the internal strife that followed a miserable General Election this summer.
Ammitzbøll-Bille – a former economic and internal affairs minister who served in the Lars Løkke Rasmussen government – explained that he decided to found the party because the country lacks a left-leaning liberal-value party that stands for more judicial security, fair immigration policy, and stronger European engagement.
“The success criteria is us getting elected into Parliament in the next General Election in 2023,” Ammitzbøll-Bille told DR Nyheder.
The party will already be represented in Parliament as Ammitzbøll-Bille was elected to Parliament in June.
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Blue Bloc party
It’s the fourth party that Ammitzbøll-Bille has been a member of in his political career and Fremad will be a record sixth Blue Bloc party in Denmark, along with Venstre, Konservative, Dansk Folkeparti, LA and Nye Borgerlige.
With Kristendemokraterne, Klaus Riskær Pedersen and anti-immigrant Stram Kurs potentially vying for a place in 2023, there could be nine Blue Bloc parties up for election in four years’ time.
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LA 2.0?
More specifically, the founding members of Fremad have criticised the new law that would allow a minister to strip dual-citizen foreign fighters of their citizenship, the contentious Burka Ban, and the recent law that dictates a handshake as a prerequisite to gaining citizenship.
Like LA, the new party also wants to reduce taxes, but unlike their former party, the new party leaders don’t want to reduce public benefits like SU, kontanthjælp and dagpenge.
LA lost over two-thirds of its mandates in the election this summer as its all*ocation fell from 13 to four seats in Parliament. The dismal display saw party leader Anders Samuelsen step down.