The Faroe Islands have a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

There are two major ideological cleavages in Faroese politics. In addition to the left-right spectrum, parties are also divided between those that want to maintain the Faroes' place within the Danish Realm ('unionists') and those that want Faroese independence ('separatists').

The current government is formed by a coalition between the two major centre-right parties, the Union Party and the People's Party, and the small, centrist Centre Party and Self-Government Party.

Political parties with elected representation at a national level

There are currently seven parties represented in the Løgting. The two largest parties – each with eight seats – represent centre-right unionism and centre-right separatism, while the next two – each with six seats – represent centre-left unionism and left-wing separatism. There are also three minor parties in the Løgting.

Election
Symbol
Party MPs Ideology Leader
Løgting
(Faroese
Parliament)
Folketing
(Danish
Parliament)
SP
Union Party
Sambandsflokkurin
Also rendered as the Unionist Party
7 1 Centre-rightconservative liberal and Nordic agrarian. In favour of union with Denmark. Bárður Nielsen
A
People's Party
Fólkaflokkurin
6 0 Centre-rightliberal conservative. In favour of Faroese independence. Beinir Johannesen
JF
Social Democratic Party
Javnaðarflokkurin
Also rendered as the Equality Party
9 1 Centre-leftsocial democratic. In favour of union with Denmark. Aksel V. Johannesen
E
Republic
Tjóðveldi
Also rendered as the Party for People's Government
6 0 Left-wingdemocratic socialist. In favour of Faroese independence. Høgni Hoydal
F
Progress
Framsókn
3 0 Centre-rightclassical liberal. In favour of Faroese independence. Ruth Vang
H
Centre Party
Miðflokkurin
2 0 Right-WingChristian democratic and agrarian. In favour of Faroese independence. Jenis av Rana
D
Self-Government Party
Sjálvstýrisflokkurin
Also rendered as the Home Rule Party or Independence Party
0 0 Centresocial liberal. In favour of gradual Faroese independence. Sámal Petur
Schematic depiction of the political party spectrum in the Faroe Islands

Defunct parties

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.