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The Progress Party is a right-wing political party of Norway. FrP was founded on April 8, 1973 at a famous adresse held by the rugged individualist and popular public speaker [Anders Lange]. The party adopted its current name, (Norwegian: Fremskrittspartiet or shorter FrP), in 1977. In the 2001 parliamentary elections, it was the third largest party, with 14.6 percent of the votes and 26 seats. The current chairman is Carl I. Hagen.
The founder, Anders Lange, intended the party to be more like a protest movement than a regular political party. The protest was directed against what was perceived to be an unacceptably high level of taxes, subsidies, and regulations, against government interventionism, and against the social democrat "nanny state" (Norwegian: formynderstaten).
It started under the name of Anders Lange's Party for strong reductions of taxes, charges and government intervention or the Anders Lange Party, or ALP (Norwegian: Anders Langes Parti til sterk nedsettelse av skatter, avgifter og offentlige inngrep).
The objective of Anders Lange was to remind the Norwegian Conservative Party (Norwegian: Høyre), of it's commitment to rightist values of individual liberty, civil society, and private property rights. According to Lange, the "socialist" government had grown too big, and the conservative party didn't seem to be bent on rolling back "big government". On the contrary, the conservatives had increased taxes and had done nothing to make government smaller, in Langes view.
The election in 1973 gave Anders Lange 5 percent, and four seats in the Storting -i.e. the Norwegian parliament.
In the parliamentary election in 1989 it got 13 percent and became the third largest party in Norway. It started to get responsible position locally. In 1990 it got the chairman of Oslo, the capital city of Norway.
Because of inner tension, the 1993 election halved the party (6.3 percent and 10 representatives). See Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993. And, in 1994, four representatives of the the "libertarian wing" broke out, formed an independent group in parliament, and founded a party more ideologically consistent libertarian, the Fridemokratene.
The election in 1997 gave FrP 15.3 percent, and again it was the third largest party. See Norwegian parliamentary election, 1997.
Before the election 2001 FrP enjoyed a high level of popular support in 1999-2000. but its support fell back to 1997 levels at the election, following both internal scandals (the second vice-chairman and very successful local government chairman i OS municipality, Terje Søviknes, was involved in a sex-scandal) and the emergence of new inner tension. This time several so-called "populist" local representatives (Oslo) and parliamentarians resigned from the party. Some so-called "soloists" where suspended (Vidar Kleppe was suspended for two years) or excluded (Jan Simonsen). The "populists" formed the Democratic Party (Norwegian: Demokratene) with Vidar Kleppe as chairman.
In Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001, FrP lost its advance on polls, but maintained its position from the 1997 election, and got 14.6 percent and 26 members in the parliament.
In 2002 it regained its position on polls. For a while it became the largest party on polls, with a strong leading in the . It has since fallen behind the Norwegian Labour Party. Until now (Sept. 2004) it has contended for the position as the second largest party with the Norwegian Conservative Party]] and the Socialist Left Party. Currently (Sept 2004), it has around 20 percent on the polls.
The platform of FRP for 2001-2005, start off with these words:
"The Progress Party is a libertarian party. It builds on the Constitution of Norway, Norwegian and western traditions and cultural heritage with a basis in the Christian outlook on life.
The main objective of the Progress Party is strong reduction in taxes, charges and government intervention.
The fundament of the Progress Party's view of society is the belief in and respect for the uniqueness of the individual human being, and the right of the individuals to self-determination over their own life and economy."
As the party was founded just after the political upheaval that followed the 1972 EU referendum, the party was believed to be an ephmeral phenomenon, and the leader of the Conservative Party Kåre Willoch characterize it as a "may fly party" (Norwegian: døgnflueparti).
Another attack on the individualist Anders Lange Party was that it consisted of "rural nitwits" (Norwegian: bygdetulling). The former interim chairman Eivind Echbo has admitted to this criticism, saying that "The establishing of the party was just like putting out a cow barn lantern on a spring evening. All sorts of creaturs came flying."
lumps it together with right-wing populists in Europe, because - the critics argue - like those parties it is sceptic on immigration, tough on crime, against the EU, sceptical on bureaucracy, and on government, and it is arguing for reduced taxes and charges. The contention that it is against EU is an exaggeration. The national convention (Norwegian: landsmøte) of FrP has decided to put its representatives in a free position in their voting on the issue. The chairman Carl I Hagen has declares FrP to be to the left of the Conservative Party (Høyre).
Other critics claim it's immigration policy is indecent, appealing to the fears of those concerned with foreign immigration. FRP denies that, arguing that its immigration policy is decent, based on facts, and is about real integration challenges. It claims to be the only party that does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race or ethnicity. Accusations and characterizations like these, as well as the odious comparisons with the Front Nationale in France or Haider’s Freedom Party in Austria, could be views as an expression of a heated power struggle and national power politics.
Arguably, its more restrictive policy on immigration is an important cause of its relatively strong standing on public opinion poll measurements (around 20 percent as of Sept. 2004).
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