SHORT HISTORY OF RECENT DUTCH POLITICS

In The Netherlands the system of proportional representation, combined with the historical social division between Catholics, Protestants, Liberals and Socialists has resulted in a multiparty system. The major political parties are CDA, PvdA and VVD. The CDA is a Christian Democratic party, generally considered right of centre. It holds to the principle that government activity should supplement but not supplant communal action by citizens. On the political spectrum, the CDA sees its philosophy as standing between the "individualism" of the VVD and the "statism" of the Labour Party. The PvdA is a social democratic party, left of center. Its program is based on greater social, political, and economic equality for all citizens. The VVD is a conservative liberal party. It attaches great importance to private enterprise and the freedom of the individual in political, social, and economic affairs.

Smaller parties represented in parliament are SP, LPF, GroenLinks, D66, ChristenUnie and the SGP. The Socialistische Partij (SP) is the most radical left-wing party, which evolved from a Maoist split from the Communist Party Netherlands. The Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF) is a right-wing populist party. It was created by the popular politician Pim Fortuyn for the 2002 elections, but Fortuyn himself was murdered 9 days before the elections, leaving a party without a leader. GroenLinks combines, as the name (which translates to GreenLeft) suggests, environmentalist with a Left-wing politics. It operates to the left of the PvdA. Democraten 66 is a radical democratic and left-liberal party. The ChristenUnie is an orthodox protestant party, which mostly concentrates on ethical issues, as such it opposes abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage. In other areas (e.g. immigration and the environment), the party often is closer to the left-wing parties. The Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) is more conservative than the ChristenUnie party. The party sees government as unconditional servant of God and bases its political views directly on the Bible.

In 1994 the Christian democratic CDA lost nearly half its seats. For the first time in eighty years a cabinet was formed without a Christian-democratic party. The cabinet was formed by VVD, D66 and PvdA, forming a bridge between left and right, called Paars, which lasted two terms. Although enjoying a period of economic prosperity, the cabinet lost its majority in the 2002 elections due to the rise of LPF, the new political party around the flamboyant Pim Fortuyn, who campaigned on an anti-immigration program. Fortuyn was shot dead a week before the elections took place. In the elections the LPF went from nothing to a sixth of the seats. A cabinet was formed by CDA, VVD and LPF, under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. It proved short-lived: after only 87 days in power, the coalition fell apart as a result of consecutive conflicts within the LPF and between LPF ministers.

In the ensuing elections in January of 2003, the LPF dropped to only 5 percent of the seats in the Second Chamber. The leftwing Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij; SP) led by Jan Marijnissen became the fourth party of the Netherlands. The centre right Balkenende II cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic CDA, the conservative liberal VVD and the progressive liberal D66. Against popular sentiment, the cabinet initiated an ambitious program of reforming the welfare state, the health care system and immigration policies. On June 1 2005 the Dutch electorate voted in a referendum against the proposed EU Constitution by a majority of 62%, three days after the French had also voted against. In June 2006 the cabinet fell in the aftermath of the upheaval about the asylum procedure of Ayaan Hirsi Ali instigated by the Dutch immigration minister Verdonk. The Balkenende III care taker cabinet was formed by CDA and VVD, and the general elections were moved to 22 November 2006. more features

November 1, 2006