TV stars, hippies and Amazon warriors join forces in local elections

As election approaches, lesser-known parties in Copenhagen set differences and ambitious dreams aside and try to form a ‘rainbow coalition’

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Nov 13, 2013

Legalising cannabis, implementing a government-provided income system, closing the job centres and revising election laws to give more concessions to smaller parties.

These were four main points of agreement last night when all political parties without a current seat on the City Council met inside Bådteatret in Nyhavn last night to discuss their similarities and differences.

The meeting was spearheaded by Christian Noah Møller of Kærlighedspartiet (The Love Party).

Battling against difficult odds
All the parties present felt that they had the election law working against them, since it allows mail-in votes months in advance of the election, when only the established party candidates are known to the public.

There were also complaints that election posters had gone up way earlier than the law allow without any consequences, but reality TV star and self proclaimed 'lazy bastard' Dovne Robert (Lazy Robert) recommended that the smaller parties stay out of the lamppost battles on the streets.

"We can't win the election poster race," he said. "Posters only move votes within the parties, and the few posters we can afford are just a complete waste of money."

"But how do we get out to the voters then?," asked independent candidate John Erik Wagner, who called for all present parties to each write a protest against the uneven odds in the local election.

"We all need to stay together despite our differences and form an alliance to get any influence," said cannabis activist Klaus Trier Tuxen, who was wearing his trademark green suit as he represented Hampepartiet (The Hemp Party).

Among cowboys and Amazon tribe women
The parties may seem more different than alike to an outsider, especially admiring the get-ups of candidates like Wagner, who showed up in full Wild West gear, or Yara Brasil of Naturpartiet (The Nature Party), who wore a traditional Amazonian headdress and facial war paint as she called for more appreciation of nature.

The other parties on hand were less flamboyant. Frihedspartiet (The Freedom Party) was the only voice from the far right and old-timer Retsforbundet (The Justice Party), founded in 1919, represented the evening's most experienced party.

Forenede Demokrater (United Democrats) demonstrated an economic background. It promised to look deeper into borgerløn, an income scheme in which citizens get paid unconditionally by the government, thus making council-run job centres unnecessary.

But all parties in yesterday's 'anarchistic pirate ship', as the host called the meeting place in the harbour, were serious about gaining more political influence and Britta Lillesøe of Christianialisten, which represents the freetown of Christiania, said that the parties needed to work together to achieve common goals.

"We don't know anything about each other," Lillesøe said. "Local parties used to know each other well, but that is a long time ago."

Local parties, national matters
Several parties were campaigning on single issues, like the pro-cannabis Hampepartiet and Gasværksvejlisten, which seeks to create awareness of health risks related to car pollution, and Havnefronten, which was founded in protest against the over-development of the city's harbour front.

The single-issue parties discussed coming together as a 'rainbow coalition', but while a coalition may still be far away, the election date is not. Next Tuesday will reveal how well the lesser-known local parties have fought their battle against the big players. Until then, last night's debate gave the candidates a chance to get to know one another, which the diverse cast of fiery souls hopes is the first step in becoming stronger in the future.