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Verbond tot Democratisering der Weermacht

List of political parties in the Netherlands
This article lists political parties in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which any one party has little chance of gaining power alone, and parties often work with each other to form coalition governments.

Parties

Parliamentary parties

Parties with representation in the Eerste Kamer, Tweede Kamer or European Parliament, as of October 2007:

Name
(English) 		Name
(Dutch) 		Abbr. Political Leader International Affliation Votes (2006) Tweede
Kamer
seats 		Eerste
Kamer
seats 		European
Parliament
seats
Christian Democratic Appeal Christen-Democratisch Appel CDA Jan Peter Balkenende* Centrist Democrat International 2,608,573 41 21 7
Labour Party Partij van de Arbeid PvdA Wouter Bos* Socialist International 2,085,077 33 14 7
Socialist Party Socialistische Partij SP Agnes Kant UEL/NGL 1,630,803 25 11 2
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie VVD Mark Rutte Liberal International 1,443,312 21 14 4
Party for Freedom Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV Geert Wilders none 579,490 9 0 0
GreenLeft GroenLinks GL Femke Halsema Global Greens 453,054 7 4 2
ChristianUnion ChristenUnie CU André Rouvoet* European Christian Political Movement 390,969 6 4 1
Democrats 66 Democraten 66 D66 Alexander Pechtold Liberal International 193,232 3 2 1
Party for Animals Partij voor de Dieren PvdD Marianne Thieme none 179,988 2 1 0
Political Reformed Party Staatskundig Gereformeerde Partij SGP Bas van der Vlies ID 153,266 2 1 1
Independents Senate Fraction Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie OSF Hendrik ten Hoeven* none did not compete 0 1 0
Europe Transparent Europa Transparant ET Paul van Buitenen* EGP/EFA did not compete 0 0 2
Total 9,654,475 150 75 27
*: These political leaders are not chair of Second Chamber parliamentary parties

The Christen-Democratisch Appèl is a centre-right Christian democratic party. It supports free enterprise and 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 CDA favours European economic, cultural and political integration. The party is led by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. The CDA is a member of the Centrist Democrat International.

The Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA, Labour Party), a European social democratic party, is left of center. Its program is based on greater social, political, and economic equality for all citizens. Former PvdA-prime minister Joop den Uyl has called it an "equal spread of knowledge, income and power." In recent years the PvdA has espoused a third way-program. The PvdA is generally supportive of European integration. Although called the Labour Party, it has no formal links to the trade unions. In practice, however, strong links exist, with PvdA politicians often beginning their careers in the FNV labour union. The party is led by Wouter Bos. The PvdA is a member of the Socialist International.

The Socialistische Partij (SP) is a left-wing party. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was a People's Republic of China-supported Maoist party, but in 1991 the SP dropped its communist course, and chose a more independent and less radical socialist course, denouncing Maoism and the People's Republic of China. The party itself has called it a move "from socialism to a social ism." The party opposes what it sees as the European Superstate. The SP operates as an independent party within the European United Left–Nordic Green Left in the European Parliament. Agnes Kant is the leader of the SP.

The Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) is a conservative liberal party. It thus attaches great importance to private enterprise and the freedom of the individual in political, social, and economic affairs. The party is generally supportive of European economic integration, but is less supportive of political integration. The VVD is generally seen as the most right wing of the major parties, though the List Pim Fortuyn took a position to the right of the VVD. Mark Rutte leads the VVD. The VVD is a member of the Liberal International.

The Party for Freedom (PVV) is a right-wing populist party. It was erected by Geert Wilders, who split from the VVD in 2004. The PVV opposes the European Islamization and seeks to limit taxation. It is Euroskeptic and seeks to limit immigration.

GroenLinks combines, as the name (which translates to GreenLeft) says, a Green, environmentalist with a left-wing ideals. It operates to the left of the PvdA. The party was founded in 1989 as a merger of a left-radical, a pacifist, a communist and a leftwing Christian party. In 2004, the party leader Femke Halsema announced she saw her own party as a leftwing liberal party, possibly breaking with its socialist roots. Like D66, it is a multiculturalist party. GroenLinks is in favour of European integration, but opposes the current policies of the European Union. GroenLinks is a member of the Global Greens.

The ChristenUnie is a Christian party, which mostly concentrates on ethical issues, such as a resistance against abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage. In other areas (e.g. immigration and the environment), the party often is closer to the left-wing parties. It is sceptic about European integration. The CU operates within the Independence and Democracy group within the European Parliament and is a founding member of the European Christian Political Movement. André Rouvoet leads the party.

Democraten 66 (D66) has had widely fluctuating electoral fortunes since the party's founding in 1966. It is a centrist left-liberal and radical democratic party, generally portrayed as between the VVD and GroenLinks, with its strongest support among young, urban, professional voters. It professes a pro-European platform of ethnic and religious tolerance. Alexander Pechtold leads the party. D66 is a member of the Liberal International.

Partij voor de Dieren (PvdD) is a single issue animal rights-party. It is led by Marianne Thieme.

The Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) is a very conservative Christian party, with even stronger ethical points of view than the ChristenUnie. Although a very small party on a national level, it is an important political power in some orthodox reformed municipalities. The party sees governments (local, regional, national and international) as unconditional servants of God. The party bases all of its views directly on the Bible. The party opposes European integration and operates within the Independence and Democracy group. Bas van der Vlies leads the SGP.

Trots op Nederland is the proposed political movement associated with independent parliamentarian and former government minister Rita Verdonk.

Solidara formed as a one-person faction in the Eerste Kamer by Düzgün Yildirim on October 2, 2007. He was formerly a member of the Socialist Party.

Other national parties

Regional parties

Political organisations (not parties)

Youth Organizations

Some parties have a youth wing. The following are recognized by the Ministry of Home Affairs

Not recognized by the government are:

Defunct parties

See also

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Last updated on Thursday October 02, 2008 at 18:46:20 PDT (GMT -0700)
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