2006 D66 leadership election
Encyclopedia
The Dutch
social liberal
party, Democrats 66
(D66), has held a lijsttrekker
election for June 24, 2006. The elections were won by the Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations Alexander Pechtold
, runner up was the chair of the parliamentary party Lousewies van der Laan
.
.
The other candidates are:
on June 24, 2006. Eligible D66 members can vote for a candidate in two ways, either they fill in the mail-in ballot they receive on June 8 before June 23, or they make their choice clear on the day of the congress. Only D66 members who have paid their membership dues before May 29, 2006 can vote.
Politics of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...
social liberal
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
party, Democrats 66
Democrats 66
Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an...
(D66), has held a lijsttrekker
Lijsttrekker
Lijsttrekker is a Dutch term for the top candidate of a party on a party list. He or she is almost always the party's political leader. After an election, this person usually leads the party's faction in the States-General, or serves in a senior position in the Cabinet if his party is part of...
election for June 24, 2006. The elections were won by the Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations Alexander Pechtold
Alexander Pechtold
Alexander Pechtold is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 30 November 2006 as well as Parliamentary group leader since 23 November 2006...
, runner up was the chair of the parliamentary party Lousewies van der Laan
Lousewies van der Laan
Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe van der Laan is a former Dutch politician and the leader of the parliamentary group of the social liberal Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives for six months in 2006...
.
Background
The lijsttrekker election has been advanced to an earlier date under pressure of the party's largest regional sections. Boris Dittrich, parliamentary leader of D66 until February 2006, stepped down. He came under heavy criticism after the political debate on sending Dutch troops to Uruzgan. He was criticized for making tactical errors to get political support for the mission, which D66 itself opposed. He was succeeded by Van der Laan. Advancing the date of the lijsttrekker election would allow D66 more time to find its ideological course before the next national electionDutch general election, 2006
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on November 22, 2006. And followed the call for new elections after the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet....
.
Candidates
D66 has had leadership elections since the 1960s, traditionally there are few high profile candidates who are joined by hopefuls, who are generally not perceived to stand a chance. In the media Van der Laan and Pechtold are described as real candidates while the other six are seen to stand no chance.- Alexander PechtoldAlexander PechtoldAlexander Pechtold is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 30 November 2006 as well as Parliamentary group leader since 23 November 2006...
, Minister without PortfolioMinister without PortfolioA minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
for Governmental Reform and Kingdom Relations. He was chair of D66 between 2002 and 2005. He has campaigned as anti-establishment candidate, criticizing the "dirty and filthy" politics of the HaguePolitics of the NetherlandsThe politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...
. Van der Laan made several personal attack against him because he wanted to re-think the Uruzgan mission, which caused the fall of the previous political leader of D66, Dittrich. Pechtold however is supported by prominent party member, such as D66-founder Hans van MierloHans van MierloHenricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva "Hans" van Mierlo was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 . In 1966 Van Mierlo together with Hans Gruijters founded the Democrats 66...
, who believes that Van der Laan is "partly responsible for the current crisis in the party."
- Lousewies van der LaanLousewies van der LaanLouse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe van der Laan is a former Dutch politician and the leader of the parliamentary group of the social liberal Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives for six months in 2006...
, chair of the parliamentary party. She was member of the European ParliamentEuropean ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
between 1999 and 2003, when she entered the House of Representatives. Her campaign is oriented towards the grassroots of the party. During the campaign she made two clear statements: freedom of education is bad for the integration of migrants and the other candidate, Pechtold, has lost his integrity. She has come under some criticism for her personal attacks against Pechtold.
The other candidates are:
- Ricardo Gomila Vergara, who describes his current position within D66 as an "active critical member in congresses and relevant meetings"
- Simone Kuiter, who is founder of the idealist organisation For Love And Grow, which she has campaigned for world peaceWorld peaceWorld Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to...
for the last two and a halve years. - Carlo Strijk, who has a background in television, he presented the program 'Hartedieven'.
- André van Wanrooij, who was also candidate for the 2003 D66 leadership election, but lost.
- Hein Westerouen van Meeteren, who was ninth on the D66 list for the 2002 electionDutch general election, 2002The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on May 15, 2002....
, but did not enter parliament. - Jan Zelle, who is chair of D66 in the city council of ZwolleZwolleZwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...
since 2002.
Procedure
A congress will be held in The HagueThe Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
on June 24, 2006. Eligible D66 members can vote for a candidate in two ways, either they fill in the mail-in ballot they receive on June 8 before June 23, or they make their choice clear on the day of the congress. Only D66 members who have paid their membership dues before May 29, 2006 can vote.
Results
Five counting rounds were necessary to elect the lijsttrekker. Alexander Pechtold was voted the new lijsttrekker. In the final round he received 2.009 of the 3.823 votes, 52.6% of the total in the sixth count of the election. Runner-up was Lousewies van der Laan, obtaining 1.752 votes, 45.8% of the total. 62 votes were declared invalid. In the first round Pechtold obtained 1.860 out of 3.905 votes (47.6%), Lousewies van der Laan 1.662 votes (42.6%) and Hein van Meeteren 182 votes (4.7%).Results
| Naam | Ronde 1 | Ronde 2 | Ronde 3 | Ronde 4 | Ronde 5 | Ronde 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lousewies van der Laan Lousewies van der Laan Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe van der Laan is a former Dutch politician and the leader of the parliamentary group of the social liberal Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives for six months in 2006... |
1662 | 1663 | 1664 | 1673 | 1692 | 1752 |
| Alexander Pechtold Alexander Pechtold Alexander Pechtold is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 30 November 2006 as well as Parliamentary group leader since 23 November 2006... |
1860 | 1862 | 1865 | 1877 | 1895 | 2009 |
| Hein Westerouen van Meeteren | 189 | 189 | 190 | 199 | 221 | afgevallen |
| Carlo Strijk | 64 | 64 | 68 | 75 | afgevallen | |
| Simone Kuiter | 44 | 47 | 50 | afgevallen | ||
| Jan Zelle | 14 | 16 | afgevallen | |||
| Ricardo Gomila Vergara | 10 | afgevallen | ||||
| André van Wanrooij | teruggetrokken | |||||
| blanco | 62 | 62 | 62 | 62 | 62 | 62 |
| totaal aantal geldige stemmen | 3905 | 3903 | 3899 | 3886 | 3870 | 3823 |