Common Course ( da, Fælles Kurs) was a political party in Denmark, which held 4 seats in the

Danish parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands a ...

from 1987–1988.

History

Common Course was officially founded in 1986, but it was built on several factions of the

Communist Party of Denmark The Communist Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti, DKP) is a communist party in Denmark. The DKP was founded on 9 November 1919 as the Left-Socialist Party of Denmark (, VSP), through a merger of the Socialist Youth League and ...

which were planning for 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 Seamens' Union, who was expelled from the

in 1979. He was known for his outspoken way of expressing himself, frequently using

swear words Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

, making broad generalizations and anti-elitist statements. The party itself gathered both communists and left-wing socialists, united in an inveterate struggle against Denmark's membership of the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...

. The party's official immigration policy was quite restrictive, contrary to other parties on the left. It actively supported communist regimes in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, as well as Colonel

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, and was a collective member of organisations supporting these nations. In the 1988 parliamentary election, the party achieved 1.9% of the votes, thereby failing to pass the 2%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

. In an attempt to regain parliamentary representation, Common Course started cooperating with

Mogens Glistrup Mogens Glistrup (28 May 1926 in Rønne – 1 July 2008 in Virum) was a Danish politician, lawyer and tax protester. He founded the Progress Party, and was a member of the Folketing (1973–1983 and 1987–1990). He had his parliamentary immunity ...

's right-wing Progress Party, causing many members to desert. The attempt failed, the party was dissolved in 2001, and members were recommended to join the

instead (which later merged into the Red-Green Alliance in 1991). Former member of Danish parliament

Line Barfod Line Barfod (born 24 May 1964, in Copenhagen) is a lawyer and politician in Denmark. She is a former member of the Folketing (Denmark, Danish parliament) for the Red-Green Alliance (Denmark), Red-Green Alliance. Line Barfod is the daughter of ret ...

( Red-Green Alliance) was a former member of Common Course, and was chairperson of its youth wing in the years 1984–1985, before the actual formation of the party.

References

{{Danish political parties 1986 establishments in Denmark 2001 disestablishments in Denmark Defunct communist parties in Denmark Eurosceptic parties in Denmark Political parties established in 1986 Political parties disestablished in 2001 Syncretic political movements