- Coastal Party
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Coastal Party
Kystpartiet
Leader Kjell Ivar Vestå Founded 1 February 1999 Split from Non-Partisan Deputies Headquarters Kanalveien 107
N-5068 BergenYouth wing Kystpartiets Ungdom Ideology Conservatism
Centrism
Euroscepticism[1]Political position Centre-right International affiliation None European affiliation None Official colours Green, Black Parliament 0 / 169County Councils[2] 3 / 728Municipal / City Councils[2] 41 / 10,781Website www.kystpartiet.no Politics of Norway
Political parties
ElectionsThe Coastal Party (Norwegian: Kystpartiet) is a Norwegian conservative and centrist political party. The party has district, fishing and coastal issues among its primary policies and is a staunch opponent of Norwegian EU membership. It was represented in the Norwegian Parliament from 2001 to 2005, and its predecessor, the Non-Partisan Deputies, from 1997 to 2001. The political leader of the party is Kjell Ivar Vestå.
Contents
History
The Coastal Party was formally founded on 1 February 1999 although the party participated, and won one seat, in the 1997 parliamentary election as the Non-Partisan Deputies. Since 1997 however, the name "Coastal Party" was commonly used to describe the parliamentary party, at least in its base in Northern Norway. In the county of Nordland, the list which ran in 1997 even went as "program for the Non-Partisan Deputies-Coastal Party". In February 2001, Conservative Party Member of Parliament Inger Stolt-Nielsen from Rogaland left the Conservatives and finished her term for the Coastal Party, giving the party two Members in Parliament until the 2001 election.[3] The party's charismatic leader Steinar Bastesen, a fisherman and whale hunter, was elected to the parliament for a second period in 2001.
In 2005 the party announced that they would for the first time participate in the parliamentary election in all of Norway's 19 counties, even though two of them do not have a coastline. This is important for all political parties, however, as it is the only way to secure a place in the national pre-election television debates. On March 13, 2005, the party convention elected Roy Waage, a former member of the Christian Democratic Party, as the new party leader.
Political platform
The Coastal Party describe itself as a "culturally conservative centrist party", and its central value as being "safety". Other core issues are Christian values, environmentalism, and a mixed economy.[4] The party is also against the European Union and EEA, seeks a restrictive immigration policy,[1] and preservation of the family, local community and nation.[4]
Election results
Campaign booth at Karl Johans gate ahead of the 2007 local elections.
The Coastal Party is to a very large degree regionally based. So far, it has not been able to pass the national 4% election threshold for leveling seats, but won a district seat in Nordland in both 1997 (as the Non-Partisan Deputies) and 2001. In the 2005 parliamentary election, 59% of the party's votes came from the three northernmost counties, Finnmark, Troms and Nordland. Their best result came in Troms, where they won 8.6% of the vote. In two municipalities, Karlsøy and Skjervøy, they received the highest vote count of all parties. In the country as a whole, however, they only won 0.8% of the vote (down from 1.7% in 2001) and lost its only seat in the Storting.
Party leaders
- Steinar Bastesen (1999−2005)
- Roy Waage (2005−2007)
- Kjell Ivar Vestå (2007−)[5]
References
- ^ a b "Velkommen til Kystpartiet!". TV2. http://www.tv2torget.no/bedrift/organisasjoner/politiske-partier/kystpartiet-100102736.html.
- ^ a b "Kystpartiet" (in Norwegian). Valg 2011. Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.nrk.no/valg2011/valgresultat/parti/parti/kyst/. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ Nordstrand, Leiv (12 Mars 2005). "Da Kystpartiet ble til". http://www.kystpartiet.no/images/files/kystpartiethistorie.pdf.
- ^ a b "Velkommen til Kystpartiet". TV2. http://www.tv2torget.no/bedrift/organisasjoner/politiske-partier/kystpartiet-100169857.html.
- ^ Main board, Kystpartiet
External links
- (Norwegian) Official web site
Political parties in Norway Bracketed numbers indicate current numbers of seats in parliament. Parliament Labour (64) · Progress (41) · Conservative (30) · Socialist Left (11) · Centre (11) · Christian Democratic (10) · Liberal (2)Minor parties1 Red (1.3%) · Pensioners (0.4%) · Green (0.3%) · Coastal (0.2%) · Christian Unity (0.2%) · Democrats (0.1%)1 by % of vote in most recent general election.Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of Norway Categories:- Political parties in Norway
- Whaling
- Political parties established in 1999
- Conservative parties in Norway
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