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Conservative (Norwegian political party)

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Not to be confused with Conservative Party (Norway).
Conservative
Konservativt
AbbreviationK
LeaderErik Selle
Founded24 February 2011
Split fromChristian Democratic Party
HeadquartersArendal
Membership2,637 (2014)[1]
IdeologyChristian right[2]
Right-wing populism[3]
Social conservatism[4]
Economic liberalism[4]
Euroscepticism[5]
Political positionRight-wing
Colours  Blue
Storting
0 / 169
County councils
1 / 728
Municipal Councils
14 / 10,781
Website
www.konservativt.no

Conservative (Bokmål: Konservativt, Nynorsk: Konservativt, K), formerly The Christians Party (Bokmål: Partiet De Kristne, Nynorsk: Partiet Dei Kristne, PDK)[1] is a right wing Christian conservative[2][6] populist political microparty[7][8] in Norway founded in 2011. The party leader is Erik Selle.

History

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Founded as The Christians, the party was formed when the Christian Democratic Party abolished its requirement that its representatives profess the Christian faith. The party saw this as a major step in the "de-Christianization" of the party, along with a perceived wider de-Christianization of Norway during the years of the Red–Green government.[9]

The party participated in its first election for the 2011 local elections limited to the municipal council in Bømlo. They won 6.5% of the votes there, earning them two seats.[10] Bømlo was selected to test support for the new party, with defected local Christian Democratic politicians heading their list. Some saw the party's founding meeting on Moster in Bømlo as symbolic, as it was the original starting point of the Christianization of Norway by King Olaf Tryggvason a thousand years ago.[9][11]

For the 2013 parliamentary election, the party gained additional support from philosopher Nina Karin Monsen,[12] veteran Christian Democratic politician Anita Apelthun Sæle,[13] and Visjon Norge televangelist Jan Hanvold.[14] It received 0.6% of the national vote (17,731 votes), winning no seats but becoming second largest of the extra-parliamentary parties.[15]

Before the 2015 local elections, the Christians drew numerous local politicians from the Christian Democrats as well as the Progress Party; the party had established a large number of new local chapters.[16] The party managed to secure lists for the elections in 70 municipalities, as well as all the counties of Norway. Among the speakers at the party's national congress in May was the Israeli Greek Orthodox priest Gabriel Naddaf.[17] The party won three municipal representatives in the election, one each in Bømlo, Vennesla and Karmøy.[18]

In the 2019 Norwegian local elections, the party improved on their previous results, with a total of 10 423 votes (0,4% total), giving them six municipal council members and their first even county council member in the Agder county elections.[19][20]

On 5 November 2022, the party congress decided to change the party's name to Conservative.[21]

Conservative has been described as the only "pro-Kremlin party" in Norway.[22] In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the party has been criticized for promoting Russian propaganda.[23] The party leader Erik Selle has stated that the West carries "a great deal of the responsibility" for Russia´s attack on Ukraine, and he has suggested that Russia gets to keep the illegally annexed Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea.[24][25] While the party made a decision in May 2022 to support the Norwegian government's weapon deliveries to Ukraine, the party leadership has since then criticized arms support for Ukraine as "prolonging" and "escalating" the conflict, and being driven by the military-industrial complex in the West.[26][27]

Ideology

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The party considers its ideology to be built on Christian and "Judeo-Christian" values.[1] It profiles itself as anti-abortion, promotes the traditional family and opposition to same-sex marriage, maintains strong support for Israel, and supports economic liberalism.[4][28] The party claims to follow the line of former Christian Democrat leader Kåre Kristiansen.[29] Unlike the Christian Democrats, the party supports cooperation with the Progress Party; the party has stated that it aims for participation in a coalition government together with the Progress and Conservative Party.[29][30] In 2019, party leader Erik Selle expressed admiration for what he sees as a spiritual and cultural "renaissance" of Christian values in Putin's Russia.[31]

Parliamentary elections

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Date Votes Seats Position Size
# % ± pp # ±
2013 17,731 0.6% + 0.6
0 / 169
 Steady 10th
2017 8,700 0.3% - 0.3
0 / 169
 Steady 12th
2021 10,448 0.4% + 0.1
0 / 169
 Steady 12th

References

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  1. ^ a b c "De Kristne jakter på rike onkler". Dagen. 03.06.2014.
  2. ^ a b "Partiet De Kristne". Store norske leksikon. 30.04.2014.
  3. ^ [1]. Dagen "Politisk samling i bånn".
  4. ^ a b c "De Kristne og valget". Dagen. 16.09.13.
  5. ^ "Partiet De Kristnes Handlingsprogram". Partiet De Kristne.
  6. ^ "De Kristne størst av minipartiene". VG. 10.09.2013.
  7. ^ "15 av partiene fikk bare 1,8 prosent av stemmene – til sammen". Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  8. ^ "Får million-støtte fra staten". Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  9. ^ a b "Vil rekristne landet". Haugesunds Avis. 30.03.2011.
  10. ^ Svendsen, Roy Hilmar; Svåsand, Maria Pile (21 April 2012). "Nå vil De Kristne innta Stortinget" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Kan få nytt kristent parti i dag". Dagen. 24.02.2011.
  12. ^ "Fritt Ord-vinner stemmer De Kristne". Dagen. 03.09.2013.
  13. ^ "KrF-veteran stemmer De Kristne". Dagen. 09.09.2013.
  14. ^ "Oppfordrer til bønn og faste for De Kristne". Dagen. 28.08.2013.
  15. ^ "Valgresultat > Partier > De Kristne". Norsk rikskringkasting AS (in Norwegian). September 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  16. ^ "- Det er fortsatt noen kristne igjen her i landet". Nettavisen. 28.01.15.
  17. ^ "Gir aldri opp partiets sjel". Dagen. 08.05.2015.
  18. ^ "Start-smell for De Kristne". Vårt Land. 15.09.2015.
  19. ^ Buhagen, Dag (September 10, 2019). "Partiet De Kristne med første mandat på fylkestinget: – Agder er veien til Stortinget i 2021". Norge IDAG.
  20. ^ "Valgresultat for hele landet – Valg 2019". VG.
  21. ^ "Pressemelding: Partiet De Kristne bytter navn til konservativt". dekristne.no. 5 November 2022. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  22. ^ Shekhovtsov, Anton, ed. (2021). "The Kremlin's Influence Quarterly #4" (PDF). Free Russia Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 12, 2022.
  23. ^ Selbekk, Vebjørn (2022-03-09). "De kristne Putin-forsvarerne". Dagen (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  24. ^ Lillestøl, Stig Even (2024-01-12). "Erstatningsteologi, Jødehat, Islam, Kirken, Israel, Ukraina, Trump". inyheter.no - Nyheter og aktuelt - Innenriks og Utenriks. (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  25. ^ Rustad, Hans (2022-03-01). "Doc-TV LIVE: Tvisyn er mangelvare". Document (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  26. ^ "Landsmøte 2023 - Forsvar". Konservativt (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  27. ^ Moltu, Tomas (2024-09-18). "Nå står Konservativts kritikere alene tilbake". Dagen (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  28. ^ "Våre hjertesaker". Partiet De Kristne.
  29. ^ a b "- Vi skal i regjering på første forsøk". Nettavisen. 05.04.13.
  30. ^ "De Kristne håper på KrF-avhoppere". Stavanger Aftenblad. 29.04.2013.
  31. ^ "Christianity is African Religion, the West is Hedonism". Herland Report. 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
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