The Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten, lit. Unity List) is a socialist political party in Denmark.
The party was formed in 1989 as an electoral alliance by three left-wing parties, Left Socialists (VS), Communist Party of Denmark (DKP) and Socialist Workers Party (SAP). Originally the plan was to unite these parties alongside the Green Party (De Grønne), Common Course and Humanist to form a broad-based progressive movement, but this did not materialize. A fourth party, the Communist Workers Party (KAP), joined Enhedslisten in 1991. One year earlier the entrance of KAP was vetoed by DKP. KAP was dissolved in 1994.
Enhedslisten has since developed into an independent party based on individual membership. The founding parties have no official say within Enhedslisten. A majority of its currents members do not have a previous association with any of the founding parties. The party cooperates closely with the Socialist Youth Front.
The party entered parliament for the first time in 1994, and is generally considered the left-most party in parliament. The party has never won more than six out of the 179 seats in parliament, and has never sought to become part of any government coalition.
The government will for sure also include the Socialist Peoples Party (SPP). The latter party have had a very close alliance with the Social Democrats during the recent years and have gone through a process to prove they are a “responsible” party ready to govern.
The success of the RGA is to a large extent explained by this turn of the SPP. The other side of the story is a very dynamic campaign by the RGA. The RGA has focused on the defence and improvement of public welfare and this is affordable through the taxation of the rich, multinational companies and speculation. Also the RGA has put forward a plan for the immediate creation of 56.000 climate jobs Source.
Danish progressives win election to usher in first female PM
Friday 16 September 2011
by Our Foreign Desk
Social Democratic Party chairwoman Helle Thorning-Schmidt began talks on forming a progressive new government today after defeating a right-wing coalition that had been in power for over a decade.
She is set to become the first female PM in the country’s history after voters handed 92 of the Danish parliament’s 179 seats to the “red bloc” coalition she leads.
The red in Ms Thorning-Schmidt’s electoral group has been provided by the Red-Green Alliance - a merger of communist, socialist and environmentalist parties.
The alliance won 6.7 per cent of the vote, up from 2.2 per cent in 2007.
It is resolutely opposed to Denmark’s membership of Nato and the EU and is committed to improving the country’s welfare system.
Incumbent Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen’s centre-right “blue bloc” coalition won 87 seats.
He had insisted that deep cuts to welfare services and unemployment benefit were needed to sort out the government’s budget deficit.
He also said that there was no option but to raise the retirement age by two years to 67 by 2020.
Ms Thorning-Schmidt and her allies promised a progressive alternative, pledging to stimulate the economy through government spending, to be financed by increased taxes on banks and the super-rich - and a one-hour increase to the 37-hour working week.
The “red bloc” also vowed to spend more on health and education.
Ms Thorning-Schmidt, the daughter-in-law of British Labour politician Neil Kinnock, said on Thursday: “We can say farewell to 10 years of bourgeois rule that has stalled and get a new government and a new majority in Denmark.”
The populist anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party (DPP), which provided vital support for the outgoing right-wing coalition, saw its share of the vote drop by 1.5 points to 12.3 per cent.
Political analyst Henrik Qvortrup said: “The DPP had the liberal-conservative government in a firm grip. This is over.”
