Party for Freedom
Encyclopedia
The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders
' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election
, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It came second in the 2009 European Parliament election
, winning 4 out of 25 seats. In the 2010 general election
it won 24 seats, making it the third largest party.
With programme items like administrative detention
and strong assimilationist
stance on the integration of immigrants into Dutch society, the Party for Freedom breaks from the established centre right parties in the Netherlands (like the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
(VVD)). In addition, the party is consistently Eurosceptic
.
PVV is the name under which the foundation Stichting Groep Wilders operates. It has Geert Wilders as its sole member. This makes it unique in the Dutch parliament.
and Pim Fortuyn
, who both had similar political viewpoints.
The party's history starts with Geert Wilders' departure from the VVD in September 2004. Wilders could not accept the VVD's positive stance towards Turkey's possible accession to the European Union
, and left the party disgruntled.
Although the VVD expected Wilders to return his parliamentary seat to the party, he refused, and continued to sit in parliament as a one-man party, Groep Wilders (Wilders Group).
In June 2005, Wilders was one of the leaders in the campaign against the European Constitution
, which was rejected by Dutch voters by 62%.
Bart Jan Spruyt
, director of the conservative Edmund Burke Foundation, joined the party in January 2006, in order to formulate a party programme and to train its prospective representatives for the forthcoming national election (then still scheduled for 2007).
Spruyt left the party in the summer of 2006, after it proved unable to build broad conservative backing, and people like Joost Eerdmans
and Marco Pastors
proved unwilling to join. After the 2006 elections
, Spruyt said he was not surprised that the Party for Freedom had gained seats but maintained that, if the Party for Freedom had sought cooperation with Eerdmans and Pastors, it would have won more, even enough to bring about a CDA
-VVD
majority government .
Later, Spruyt commented that the PVV had a 'natural tendency' toward fascism. He later qualified the statement, though he didn't withdraw it. Former PVV candidate Lucas Hartong called Spruyt's claims 'a cheap insinuation'.
In an HP/De Tijd
profile dated December 2006, the party was described as a cult
, with an extremely distrustful Wilders only accepting fellow candidates completely loyal to him, and compared to the Socialist Party
led by Jan Marijnissen
but without reaching that degree of organisational perfection.
On 10 January 2007, the PVV announced it would not field candidates at the forthcoming Provincial elections. This meant it would be unrepresented in the Senate.
On 13 January 2007, NRC Handelsblad
reported that a PVV intern had solicited for signatures on the website forums Dutch Disease Report and Polinco, the latter a forum described as far right by various organisations, among them the Dutch Complaints Bureau for Discrimination on the Internet. Any party participating in this election was required to collect at least 30 signatures from supporters in each of the 19 electoral districts; of the 1500 signatures the PVV received, the Dutch Antifascist
group identified 34 known far-right supporters. In a response, Wilders said he regretted that far-right sympathisers had provided signatures, denied any personal responsibility for them and reasserted his dislike of far-right parties like Front National and Vlaams Belang
.
Noted writer and columnist Leon de Winter
later declared the affair to be the result of a campaign of demonisation
against Geert Wilders led by NRC Handelsblad
and Volkskrant newspapers, as well as the broadcaster VARA
.
Former labour union leader and prominent Christian Democrat
Doekle Terpstra proposed an initiative against Geert Wilders and the PVV on 30 November 2007, in newspaper Trouw
. Terpstra sees Wilders as promoting intolerance, and discrimination against Muslims. He is supported in his cause by the large Dutch trade unions and refugee organisations. Politicians and the public are divided on Terpstra's initiative. The newspaper De Pers
reported the next day that much of Terpstra's support did not actualize.
Polling by Maurice de Hond
published in March 2009 indicated that the PVV was the most popular parliamentary party. The polls predicted that the party would take 21 per cent of the national vote, giving it 32 out of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament. If the polling results were to be replicated at a genuine election, Wilders would be a major power broker and could become Prime Minister. However, De Hond's results are not uncontroversial, as they are based on a panel of people who have signed up for the election poll on internet and thus are not a random sample
. According to Joop van Holsteyn, professor of election research, therefore, De Hond's polls are not representative
of the population. Other Dutch polls (Politieke Barometer and TNS NIPO) have shown contrasting results, with the PVV often getting less support, though still remaining very popular.
By February 2010, the PVV had once more become the most popular party, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond which said it would win 27–32 parliameary seats in the next election, up two from the previous poll in early January.
In the parliamentary elections of 9 June 2010, the PVV went from 9 to 24 seats (of 150), winning over 15% of the votes. This makes the PVV the third largest party in parliament.
By July 2010 the PVV again became the biggest party in the polls after the parliamentary elections
, following difficulties in forming a new coalition and the PVV technically being excluded from the coalition talks because the CDA showed reluctance to cooperate with the PVV. According to the polls, the PVV would get 35 seats in a new election, which is a record high number.
In August 2010, during the difficult cabinet formation following the elections, the PVV emerged as a prominent player in a proposal for a new minority government in the Netherlands. While the party would not gain a ministerial appointment, the PVV would tolerate a centre-right minority government coalition: a proposed deal that would make the party one of the most influential forces. Led by Ivo Opstelten
, a former mayor of Rotterdam who was appointed mediator for the next stage of negotiations, the forming of a government of VVD and Christian Democratic Appeal
(CDA) with support of the PVV was negotiated. The former two parties would have to rely on the latter to get important legislation through. With this deal the Netherlands would follow the "Danish model", since in Denmark the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party also stayed out of government but supported a minority center-right administration. The very fact of the participation of the PVV in these coalition negotiations has caused fierce discussions in political circles and was considered very unlikely until recently.
After the elections, CDA parliamentary fraction president Maxime Verhagen first had stated that as a matter of principle he refused to negotiate with VVD and PVV about a conservative government, saying that the PVV represented views that could not be reconciled with Dutch law. These objections on principle disappeared in five weeks and Verhagen turned out to be willing to negotiate over a cabinet whose fate would (also) lie in the hands of Wilders.
and humanist
traditions should be taken as the dominant culture in the Netherlands, and that immigrants should adapt accordingly. The party wants a halt to immigration from non-Western countries. It is sceptical towards the EU, is against future EU enlargement
to countries like Turkey and opposes a dominant presence of Islam in the Netherlands. The party is also opposed to dual citizenship (see below).
Ahmed Aboutaleb
and Nebahat Albayrak
to become members of the new government
. The motion had to be withdrawn, however, after heavy pressure from the President of the House of Representatives, Gerdi Verbeet (Labour Party). University of Maastricht law professor Twan Tak sees a risk in executive branch officials having dual citizenship, and was angered by Verbeet's insistence to close the debate. In spite of this, the PVV planned to call for a vote of no confidence against junior ministers Aboutaleb and Albayrak when the new cabinet
had its first meeting with the House of Representatives, claiming that their respectively Moroccan and Turkish passports put their loyalties into question. In the event, the motion was only supported by the PVV itself.
The issue of dual nationality, however, was not over yet. On 2 March, Radio Netherlands
reported that Labour Party MP Khadiya Arib, who had been sworn into parliament the day before, was sitting on a commission appointed by the king of Morocco
. The PVV held that this commission work endangers Arib's loyalty to the Netherlands, and that she should choose between being a member of the Dutch parliament or the Moroccan commission. Geert Wilders said that Arib's remark on national television that her loyalty lay neither with the Netherlands nor Morocco was shameful. The liberal VVD had also problems with Arib's work, saying that her "double orientation would hurt Dutch integration." All other parties were appalled by the PVV and VVD's behaviour.
The party fielded a controversial motion in the 2007 general deliberations
on the immigration budget, calling for a stop to immigration from Muslim countries. The House of Representatives at first declined to bring the motion forward for debate. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin
said it was in violation of the Dutch constitution and international law. Another motion by the PVV, against police officers wearing veil
s, did gain a parliamentary majority.
Wilders has also put forward the idea that the Netherlands should open up its own "Guantanamo Bay" that would detain people which the intelligence service sees as a security threat, somewhat akin to the Israeli and Algerian administrative detention
.
(Partij van de Vrijheid), a Dutch political party founded just after the Second World War, which eventually merged with a faction of social-liberal dissidents from the PvdA led by Pieter Oud to become the VVD in 1948.
In the elections for the European parliament in 2009, the party won 17% of the votes.
the party had 24 members of the House of Representatives:
Given that the party is still relatively young, its 2006 electoral showing was quite remarkable, giving the party more seats in the House of Representatives than well-established parties such as GreenLeft
, Democrats 66
and ChristianUnion
. Its surprisingly rapid rise in popularity also caught many political pundits off guard, especially as the pre-election polls were predominantly predicting a gain of no more than 6 seats.
The party has seen waves of popularity in the past. In December 2006, some polls put it ahead of the Labour Party
, indicating it would win 24 to 32 seats or more. Its backing for a referendum
on Dutch ratification of the European Constitution was in line with the wishes of the majority of voters. New prosecution attempts against its leader for hate speech
and other related events may have helped propel the Party for Freedom to position in the polls in March 2009.
and the University of Leiden, has found that the Party for Freedom can be considered extreme
right-wing, although "with ifs and buts". Peter Rodrigues and Jaap van Donselaar, who have academically guided the study, explain this classification with the islamophobia
, nationalism
, and "sharp aversion to the strange", subsumed as racism
, which they have observed within the party.
In January 2010, the report Polarisatie en radicalisering in Nederland(transl. "Polarisation and radicalisation in the Netherlands") by political researchers Moors, Lenke Balogh, Van Donselaar and De Graaff from the Tilburg University research group IVA stated that the PVV was not an extreme right-wing party, but contained some radical right-wing elements. The study claims that the PVV holds xenophobic
ideas, but not antisemitic ideas – the PVV describes its culture as Jewish-Christian humanistic. "The PVV statements on Islamisation and non-Western immigrants appear to be discriminatory and the party organisation is authoritarian rather than democratic", said the researchers, who were looking into polarisation and radicalism across the Netherlands. They described the PVV as the "new radical right", a party with a national democratic ideology but without extreme right-wing roots. In particular, the report stated that the party's pro-Israel stance showed that it was not neo-Nazi. It tends however towards a national democratic ideology. Wilders called the report "scandalous"—in particular the link between defending the national interest and the radical right.
An alleged earlier version of the report, leaked to the Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant
in November 2009, said that Wilders' party is an extreme right-wing grouping and a threat to social cohesion and democracy. The paper claimed at the time the researchers were under pressure to water down the conclusions because of their political sensitivity. The Dutch Ministry of the Interior Guusje ter Horst
, who commissioned the research, denied exerting any interference. In response, Wilders accused her of "playing a dirty game".
Some commentrators have argued that the party is far-right; for example, the ex-prime minister Van Agt
regards the party as ultra-right-wing, and Bert de Vries
(CDA) draw comparisons with the Centre Party
. The political scientist Lucardie, on the other hand, considers it necessary to reserve the 'far-right' qualification for national socialists and fascists.
International scholarly publications have repeatedly referred to the party as far-right. International media outlets and newspapers have followed this classification. Several scholars have described the party as anti-Muslim
. Some media, both in the Netherlands and international, have adopted this label. On the other hand, it has occasionally been regarded as "centre-right".
, a short film
by Geert Wilders
. Approximately 17 minutes in length, it shows selected excerpts from Sura
s of the Qur'an
, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or describing acts of violence or hatred by Muslims. The film attempts to demonstrate that the Qur'an motivates its followers to hate all who violate Islamic teachings. Consequently, the film argues that Islam encourages acts of terrorism, antisemitism, violence against women
and homosexuals, and Islamic universalism
. A large part of the film deals with the influence of Islam on the Netherlands
. The film's title, the Arabic word "fitna", is used to describe either "disagreement and division among people" or a "test of faith in times of trial". Wilders, a prominent critic of Islam, described the film as "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization
".
, revealed a painful breach of security in the PVV and especially around leader Geert Wilders. The Party had often been depicted as a fortress, having no members and avoiding the 'left-wing' Dutch press. In 2009, Geurtsen spent four months working for the party undercover, posing as an intern, "to find out what the party is really like". Afterwards, she claimed that she had enjoyed unchecked access to Wilders. "I could have killed him", were the first words of the article that she published about this operation. She said she had had "dozens" of opportunities to take his life.
On Twitter, Geert Wilders responded that "the left-wing media had sunk to new depths". Geurtsen insisted that she infiltrated the party "as a service to potential PVV voters who want to know more".
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election
Dutch 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....
, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It came second in the 2009 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2009 (Netherlands)
The European Parliament election of 2009 in the Netherlands was the election of the delegation from the Netherlands to the European Parliament in 2009 and took place on June 4, 2009. Seventeen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for 25 seats...
, winning 4 out of 25 seats. In the 2010 general election
Dutch general election, 2010
The 2010 Dutch general election was held on Wednesday, 9 June 2010. After the fall of the cabinet Balkenende IV on 20 February, Queen Beatrix accepted the resignation of the Labour Party ministers on 23 February...
it won 24 seats, making it the third largest party.
With programme items like administrative detention
Administrative detention
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial, usually for security reasons. A large number of countries, both democratic and undemocratic, resort to administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism, control illegal immigration, or to protect the...
and strong assimilationist
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
stance on the integration of immigrants into Dutch society, the Party for Freedom breaks from the established centre right parties in the Netherlands (like the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...
(VVD)). In addition, the party is consistently Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
.
PVV is the name under which the foundation Stichting Groep Wilders operates. It has Geert Wilders as its sole member. This makes it unique in the Dutch parliament.
History
Wilders was in part motivated by the murders of Theo van GoghTheo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
and Pim Fortuyn
Pim Fortuyn
Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List ....
, who both had similar political viewpoints.
The party's history starts with Geert Wilders' departure from the VVD in September 2004. Wilders could not accept the VVD's positive stance towards Turkey's possible accession to the European Union
Accession of Turkey to the European Union
Turkey's application to accede to the European Union was made on 14 April 1987. Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union and its predecessors since 1963...
, and left the party disgruntled.
Although the VVD expected Wilders to return his parliamentary seat to the party, he refused, and continued to sit in parliament as a one-man party, Groep Wilders (Wilders Group).
In June 2005, Wilders was one of the leaders in the campaign against the European Constitution
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
, which was rejected by Dutch voters by 62%.
Bart Jan Spruyt
Bart Jan Spruyt
Dr. Bastian Jan Spruyt is a Dutch historian, journalist and conservative writer.-Academic background:...
, director of the conservative Edmund Burke Foundation, joined the party in January 2006, in order to formulate a party programme and to train its prospective representatives for the forthcoming national election (then still scheduled for 2007).
Spruyt left the party in the summer of 2006, after it proved unable to build broad conservative backing, and people like Joost Eerdmans
Joost Eerdmans
Bernard Johannes Eerdmans is a politician in the Netherlands, and member of the Eén NL party.-Personal life:Eerdmans studied Management Science at the Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam...
and Marco Pastors
Marco Pastors
Marco Pastors is a Dutch politician. He is currently political leader of the local party Leefbaar Rotterdam, a member of the city council for Rotterdam and the political leader of Een NL, a Dutch political party at the national level...
proved unwilling to join. After the 2006 elections
Dutch 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....
, Spruyt said he was not surprised that the Party for Freedom had gained seats but maintained that, if the Party for Freedom had sought cooperation with Eerdmans and Pastors, it would have won more, even enough to bring about a CDA
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...
-VVD
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...
majority government .
Later, Spruyt commented that the PVV had a 'natural tendency' toward fascism. He later qualified the statement, though he didn't withdraw it. Former PVV candidate Lucas Hartong called Spruyt's claims 'a cheap insinuation'.
In an HP/De Tijd
HP/De Tijd
HP/De Tijd is a Dutch weekly magazine, published by Audax Publishing. HP/De Tijd was founded in 1990, after a merger of the Haagse Post and De Tijd. It is conventionally considered to be one of the four most influential written media in its sector, along with De Groene Amsterdammer, Vrij Nederland...
profile dated December 2006, the party was described as a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
, with an extremely distrustful Wilders only accepting fellow candidates completely loyal to him, and compared to the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Netherlands)
The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet...
led by Jan Marijnissen
Jan Marijnissen
Johannes Guillaume Christianus Andreas Marijnissen is a Dutch politician of the Socialist Party . He served as Parliamentary leader in House of Representatives May 5, 1994 until June 20, 2008...
but without reaching that degree of organisational perfection.
On 10 January 2007, the PVV announced it would not field candidates at the forthcoming Provincial elections. This meant it would be unrepresented in the Senate.
On 13 January 2007, NRC Handelsblad
NRC Handelsblad
NRC Handelsblad, often abbreviated to NRC, is a daily evening newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. The newspaper was created on October 1, 1970, from merger of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and Algemeen Handelsblad . In 2006 a morning newspaper, nrc•next, was launched...
reported that a PVV intern had solicited for signatures on the website forums Dutch Disease Report and Polinco, the latter a forum described as far right by various organisations, among them the Dutch Complaints Bureau for Discrimination on the Internet. Any party participating in this election was required to collect at least 30 signatures from supporters in each of the 19 electoral districts; of the 1500 signatures the PVV received, the Dutch Antifascist
Antifascistisk aktion
Antifaschistische Aktion, Antifascistische Aktie or Antifascistisk Aktion — abbreviated as Antifa or AFA — is a militant extra-parliamentary network in Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and other countries, whose stated goal is to "smash fascism in all its forms"...
group identified 34 known far-right supporters. In a response, Wilders said he regretted that far-right sympathisers had provided signatures, denied any personal responsibility for them and reasserted his dislike of far-right parties like Front National and Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
.
Noted writer and columnist Leon de Winter
Leon de Winter
- Early life :Leon de Winter was born on 24 February 1954 in Den Bosch, in the southern Netherlands. He grew up in an orthodox Jewish family and attended the gymnasium in Den Bosch. After his graduation he attended the academy of Bavaria Film Studios in Munich and the Netherlands Film Academy in...
later declared the affair to be the result of a campaign of demonisation
Demonization
Demonization is the reinterpretation of polytheistic deities as evil, lying demons by other religions, generally monotheistic and henotheistic ones...
against Geert Wilders led by NRC Handelsblad
NRC Handelsblad
NRC Handelsblad, often abbreviated to NRC, is a daily evening newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. The newspaper was created on October 1, 1970, from merger of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and Algemeen Handelsblad . In 2006 a morning newspaper, nrc•next, was launched...
and Volkskrant newspapers, as well as the broadcaster VARA
VARA (broadcaster)
The Omroepvereniging VARA is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system, founded in 1925 as the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs...
.
Former labour union leader and prominent Christian Democrat
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...
Doekle Terpstra proposed an initiative against Geert Wilders and the PVV on 30 November 2007, in newspaper Trouw
Trouw
Trouw is a Dutch daily newspaper. "Trouw" is a Dutch word meaning "fidelity", "loyalty", or "allegiance", and is cognate with the English adjective "true"...
. Terpstra sees Wilders as promoting intolerance, and discrimination against Muslims. He is supported in his cause by the large Dutch trade unions and refugee organisations. Politicians and the public are divided on Terpstra's initiative. The newspaper De Pers
De Pers
De Pers is a freely distributed Dutch language tabloid newspaper in the Netherlands, with a circulation of around 200,000. Its competitors are Metro and Sp!ts. The first edition of De Pers was published on January 23, 2007....
reported the next day that much of Terpstra's support did not actualize.
Polling by Maurice de Hond
Maurice de Hond
Maurice de Hond is a Dutch pollster and entrepreneur.-Career:De Hond studied social geography at the University of Amsterdam, obtaining a degree in 1971. He worked for the university, as assistant with the Sociaal Geografisch Instituut, but became a project leader for Interview-NSS in 1973...
published in March 2009 indicated that the PVV was the most popular parliamentary party. The polls predicted that the party would take 21 per cent of the national vote, giving it 32 out of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament. If the polling results were to be replicated at a genuine election, Wilders would be a major power broker and could become Prime Minister. However, De Hond's results are not uncontroversial, as they are based on a panel of people who have signed up for the election poll on internet and thus are not a random sample
Random sample
In statistics, a sample is a subject chosen from a population for investigation; a random sample is one chosen by a method involving an unpredictable component...
. According to Joop van Holsteyn, professor of election research, therefore, De Hond's polls are not representative
Representation validity
Representation validity is concerned about how well the constructs or abstractions translate into observable measures. There are two primary questions to be answered:...
of the population. Other Dutch polls (Politieke Barometer and TNS NIPO) have shown contrasting results, with the PVV often getting less support, though still remaining very popular.
By February 2010, the PVV had once more become the most popular party, according to a poll by Maurice de Hond which said it would win 27–32 parliameary seats in the next election, up two from the previous poll in early January.
In the parliamentary elections of 9 June 2010, the PVV went from 9 to 24 seats (of 150), winning over 15% of the votes. This makes the PVV the third largest party in parliament.
By July 2010 the PVV again became the biggest party in the polls after the parliamentary elections
Dutch general election, 2010
The 2010 Dutch general election was held on Wednesday, 9 June 2010. After the fall of the cabinet Balkenende IV on 20 February, Queen Beatrix accepted the resignation of the Labour Party ministers on 23 February...
, following difficulties in forming a new coalition and the PVV technically being excluded from the coalition talks because the CDA showed reluctance to cooperate with the PVV. According to the polls, the PVV would get 35 seats in a new election, which is a record high number.
In August 2010, during the difficult cabinet formation following the elections, the PVV emerged as a prominent player in a proposal for a new minority government in the Netherlands. While the party would not gain a ministerial appointment, the PVV would tolerate a centre-right minority government coalition: a proposed deal that would make the party one of the most influential forces. Led by Ivo Opstelten
Ivo Opstelten
Ivo Willem Opstelten is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Minister of Security and Justice in the Cabinet Rutte since October 14, 2010....
, a former mayor of Rotterdam who was appointed mediator for the next stage of negotiations, the forming of a government of VVD and Christian Democratic Appeal
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...
(CDA) with support of the PVV was negotiated. The former two parties would have to rely on the latter to get important legislation through. With this deal the Netherlands would follow the "Danish model", since in Denmark the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party also stayed out of government but supported a minority center-right administration. The very fact of the participation of the PVV in these coalition negotiations has caused fierce discussions in political circles and was considered very unlikely until recently.
After the elections, CDA parliamentary fraction president Maxime Verhagen first had stated that as a matter of principle he refused to negotiate with VVD and PVV about a conservative government, saying that the PVV represented views that could not be reconciled with Dutch law. These objections on principle disappeared in five weeks and Verhagen turned out to be willing to negotiate over a cabinet whose fate would (also) lie in the hands of Wilders.
Platform
The Party for Freedom combines economic liberalism with a conservative programme on immigration and culture. The party seeks tax cuts (€16 billion in the 2006 election programme), de-centralisation, abolition of the minimum wage, and limiting child benefits and government subsidies. Regarding immigration and culture, the party believes that the Judeo-ChristianJudeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...
and humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
traditions should be taken as the dominant culture in the Netherlands, and that immigrants should adapt accordingly. The party wants a halt to immigration from non-Western countries. It is sceptical towards the EU, is against future EU enlargement
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
to countries like Turkey and opposes a dominant presence of Islam in the Netherlands. The party is also opposed to dual citizenship (see below).
Dual nationality
In February 2007, PVV parliamentarian Fritsma introduced a motion that would have prohibited any parliamentarian or executive branch politician from having dual citizenship. The PVV claims that it is unclear where a dual national's loyalty lies. The motion would have made it difficult if not impossible for Labour MPsLabour Party (Netherlands)
The Labour Party , is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Since the 2003 Dutch General Election, the PvdA has been the second largest political party in the Netherlands. The PvdA was a coalition member in the fourth Balkenende cabinet following 22 February 2007...
Ahmed Aboutaleb
Ahmed Aboutaleb
Ahmed Aboutaleb is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party . He has been the Mayor of Rotterdam since January 5, 2009...
and Nebahat Albayrak
Nebahat Albayrak
Nebahat Albayrak is a Turkish-Dutch politician and former civil servant. As a member of the Dutch Labour Party she is a former State Secretary for Justice in the Netherlands. Since May 12, 2010 she has been an MP. From April till August 2011 she was on maternity leave...
to become members of the new government
Fourth Balkenende cabinet
The fourth Balkenende cabinet or Balkenende IV is the previous Dutch coalition cabinet formed by the political parties Christian Democratic Appeal , Labour Party , and ChristianUnion . The cabinet succeeded the third Balkenende cabinet following the 2006 election, and was installed by Queen Beatrix...
. The motion had to be withdrawn, however, after heavy pressure from the President of the House of Representatives, Gerdi Verbeet (Labour Party). University of Maastricht law professor Twan Tak sees a risk in executive branch officials having dual citizenship, and was angered by Verbeet's insistence to close the debate. In spite of this, the PVV planned to call for a vote of no confidence against junior ministers Aboutaleb and Albayrak when the new cabinet
Fourth Balkenende cabinet
The fourth Balkenende cabinet or Balkenende IV is the previous Dutch coalition cabinet formed by the political parties Christian Democratic Appeal , Labour Party , and ChristianUnion . The cabinet succeeded the third Balkenende cabinet following the 2006 election, and was installed by Queen Beatrix...
had its first meeting with the House of Representatives, claiming that their respectively Moroccan and Turkish passports put their loyalties into question. In the event, the motion was only supported by the PVV itself.
The issue of dual nationality, however, was not over yet. On 2 March, Radio Netherlands
Radio Netherlands
Radio Netherlands Worldwide is a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands...
reported that Labour Party MP Khadiya Arib, who had been sworn into parliament the day before, was sitting on a commission appointed by the king of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. The PVV held that this commission work endangers Arib's loyalty to the Netherlands, and that she should choose between being a member of the Dutch parliament or the Moroccan commission. Geert Wilders said that Arib's remark on national television that her loyalty lay neither with the Netherlands nor Morocco was shameful. The liberal VVD had also problems with Arib's work, saying that her "double orientation would hurt Dutch integration." All other parties were appalled by the PVV and VVD's behaviour.
The party fielded a controversial motion in the 2007 general deliberations
Prinsjesdag
Prinsjesdag is the day on which the reigning monarch of the Netherlands addresses a joint session of the Dutch Senate and House of Representatives in the Ridderzaal or Hall of Knights in The Hague. The Speech from the Throne sets out the main features of government policy for the coming...
on the immigration budget, calling for a stop to immigration from Muslim countries. The House of Representatives at first declined to bring the motion forward for debate. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin
Ernst Hirsch Ballin
Ernst Maurits Henricus Hirsch Ballin is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Minister of Justice and Minister for Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs from November 7, 1989 until May 27, 1994 in the Cabinet Lubbers III...
said it was in violation of the Dutch constitution and international law. Another motion by the PVV, against police officers wearing veil
Veil
A veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face.One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space...
s, did gain a parliamentary majority.
Wilders has also put forward the idea that the Netherlands should open up its own "Guantanamo Bay" that would detain people which the intelligence service sees as a security threat, somewhat akin to the Israeli and Algerian administrative detention
Administrative detention
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial, usually for security reasons. A large number of countries, both democratic and undemocratic, resort to administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism, control illegal immigration, or to protect the...
.
Party programme
Other noteworthy policies that Wilders mentions in his party program (link is to a Dutch-language document):- Ethnic registration (p. 11)
- Introduction of a Direct DemocracyDirect democracyDirect democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
- No Coffee ShopsCannabis coffee shopCoffeeshops are establishments in the Netherlands where the sale of cannabis for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local authorities ....
within a radius of at least 1 kilometer from schools (p. 11) - Active repatriation of criminals of foreign citizenship and Dutch nationals originating from the Netherlands AntillesNetherlands AntillesThe Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
(p. 11) - Deportation of criminals with a Double nationality or single foreign nationality back to their country of origin, after a prison sentence. (p. 13)
- Restrictions on immigrant labour from new EU member states and Islamic countries (p. 15)
- Removal of resources from anti-climate change programmes, development aid and immigration services (p. 17)
- Abolition of the Senate (p. 19)
- Closing Islamic schools (p. 15)
- Hard punishment of violence against homosexuals and jews, which particularly comes from the Islamic corner (p. 13)
- Forbid islamic gender apartheidWomen in IslamThe study of women in Islam investigates the role of women within the religion of Islam. The complex relationship between women and Islam is defined by Islamic texts, the history and culture of the Muslim world...
(p. 15) - General Pension (AOW) age most stay 65 (p. 21)
- Governmental communication to be exclusively in Dutch or Frisian (p. 35)
- Dutch language proficiency and a 10-year Dutch residency and work experience requirement for welfare assistance (p. 15)
- Constitutional protection of the dominance of the Judeo-Christian and humanistic culture of the Netherlands (p. 35)
- Choosing to defend the essential elements of Dutch culture: freedom of homosexuals and equality of men and women (p. 33)
- Repeal of anti-smoking legislation in bars (p. 39)
- Investment in more nuclear power plants and clean coal plants to reduce dependency on imported oil and because coal is cheaper (p. 47)
Name
The name "Party for Freedom" (Partij voor de Vrijheid) was as a reference to the Freedom PartyFreedom Party (Netherlands)
The Freedom Party was a short lived Dutch liberal political party. The PvdV was a predecessor of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.-Party History:...
(Partij van de Vrijheid), a Dutch political party founded just after the Second World War, which eventually merged with a faction of social-liberal dissidents from the PvdA led by Pieter Oud to become the VVD in 1948.
Election results
| Election year | # of total votes | % of overall vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 Dutch 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.... |
579,490 | 5.9% | 9 (out of 150) |
| 2010 Dutch general election, 2010 The 2010 Dutch general election was held on Wednesday, 9 June 2010. After the fall of the cabinet Balkenende IV on 20 February, Queen Beatrix accepted the resignation of the Labour Party ministers on 23 February... |
1,435,349 | 15.5% | 24 (out of 150) |
In the elections for the European parliament in 2009, the party won 17% of the votes.
| Election year | # of total votes | % of overall vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 European Parliament election, 2009 (Netherlands) The European Parliament election of 2009 in the Netherlands was the election of the delegation from the Netherlands to the European Parliament in 2009 and took place on June 4, 2009. Seventeen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for 25 seats... |
769,125 | 17.0% | 4 (out of 25) |
- In March 2009, according to a poll by Maurice de HondMaurice de HondMaurice de Hond is a Dutch pollster and entrepreneur.-Career:De Hond studied social geography at the University of Amsterdam, obtaining a degree in 1971. He worked for the university, as assistant with the Sociaal Geografisch Instituut, but became a project leader for Interview-NSS in 1973...
the PVV, if there were elections, would take 18 per cent of the vote and win 27 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives.
- In December 2009, the party was in joint first place with the governing Christen-Democratisch Appel (CDA), according to a new poll by Maurice de Hond: both parties would get 26 seats.
- On 3 March 2010, elections for the local councils were held in the municipalities of the Netherlands. The PVV only contested these in The HagueThe HagueThe 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...
and AlmereAlmereAlmere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
, because of a shortage of good candidates. MP Raymond de Roon headed the campaign in his home town of AlmereAlmereAlmere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
. Fellow MP Sietse Fritsma was appointed head of the local election campaign in The Hague. Both men would continue to serve as MPs as well as local councillors after their election. The PVV made big gains, suggesting that the party and Wilders might dominate the political scene in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled on 9 June 2010. The PVV won in Almere and came second to the Labour Party in The Hague. In Almere, the PVV won 21 percent of the vote to Labour's 18 percent, preliminary results showed. In The Hague, the PVV had 8 seats – second to Labour with 10 seats. The local elections were the first test of public opinion since the collapse of the 4th Balkenende cabinet in February 2010. The municipal elections were overshadowed by the fall of the cabinet and the forthcoming parliamentary elections. If voters had elected a new parliament, the PVV would have won between 24 and 27 seats in the 150 seat Dutch parliament. The Maurice de Hond poll published on 6 March 2010 put the PVV at 27 seats in the 9 June national elections, while the CDA and the Labour Party (PvdA) were both on 24 seats. This poll also showed that none of the three most likely coalitions could form a majority government without taking on a fourth or fifth party.
- On 8 March 2010, Wilders announced he would take a seat on The Hague city council, after it became clear that he had won 13,000 preference votes. Earlier he had said he would not do so. One week after these local elections, the PVV called for an inquiry into the elections in The Hague, since a YouTube clip allegedly showed irregularities, including more than one person entering polling booths at the same time and a voter not putting the ballot paper into the box. These calls were rejected. The Hague council said the municipal elections had gone well and that any complaint should anyway have been lodged immediately after the results were announced. In RotterdamRotterdamRotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, a full recount was held after a protest by Leefbaar Rotterdam, a local party with a programme broadly similar to that of the PVV.
- On 18 March 2010, the PVV gave up trying to form a governing coalition in Almere. In a press release, the party said most of the other parties had refused to give ground to PVV demands on what it describes as "essential issues". These include what the party calls ‘city commandos’: street patrols to keep order in the face of inadequate proper law enforcement. Other obstacles were the PVV’s demands for reduced taxes for Almere residents and its fight against what the party sees as "the increasing influence of Islam in Dutch society". The PVV complained that it was forced to stay in the opposition through the manoeuvring of the political elite.
- After the 2010 election, when the PVV more than doubled the number of MPs, the party has agreed to back a right-wing minority government of VVD and CDA, without participating in the cabinet.
Members of the House of Representatives
After the 2010 electionsDutch general election, 2010
The 2010 Dutch general election was held on Wednesday, 9 June 2010. After the fall of the cabinet Balkenende IV on 20 February, Queen Beatrix accepted the resignation of the Labour Party ministers on 23 February...
the party had 24 members of the House of Representatives:
- Geert WildersGeert WildersGeert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
– parliamentary chairman. - Fleur AgemaFleur AgemaMarie-Fleur Agema is a Dutch politician and former spatial designer and restaurant employee. As a member of the Party for Freedom she has been an MP since November 30, 2006. She focuses on matters of caregiving.- Early life :Agema was born in the Dutch Province of North Holland...
, formerly an LPF member and provincial representative, critical of the way subsidies are spent. - Harm BeertemaHarm BeertemaHarm Jan Beertema is a Dutch politician and former educator. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010. He focuses on matters of primary, special, secondary and vocational education as well as teachers policy...
, former teacher at a vocational educationVocational educationVocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
school. - Jhim van BemmelJhim van BemmelJhim Jan Gerardus van Bemmel is a Dutch politician. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010. He focuses on matters of spatial planning, consumers, tourism, telecom, postal market, administrative burden and environmental law.- References : - External links :...
, former small businessmanSmall businessA small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
in the music industry. - Ino van den BesselaarIno van den BesselaarI.H.C. van den Besselaar is a Dutch politician. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since November 23, 2010, succeeding James Sharpe. He focuses on matters of social affairs, pensions and government spending.- References : - External links :...
, former civil servant at the Ministry of Social Affairs and EmploymentMinistry of Social Affairs and Employment (Netherlands)The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment is the Dutch ministry of social affairs: it is occupied with employment, relations between employers and employees, the system of social security, and emancipation...
. Was sworn in on November 18, 2010 following the resignation of James SharpeJames Sharpe (Dutch politician)James Emanuel Johan Willem Sharpe is a Dutch former politician, businessman and athlete of Aruban descent. As a member of the Party for Freedom he was an MP from June 17 till November 19, 2010...
. - Louis BontesLouis BontesLouis Bontes is a Dutch politician and former police officer. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since 17 June 2010. He focuses on matters of the European Union, civil law, security, police and foreign affairs...
, former Member of the European ParliamentMember of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
and police officer in Rotterdam. - Martin BosmaMartin BosmaMartin Bosma is a Dutch politician and former journalist. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since November 30, 2006...
– party secretary, media background worked for CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, NOS NewsNOS NewsNOS Journaal is the broadcast supplier of news to Dutch public radio and television. It is part of the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting.The 'NOS Journaal' editorial team consists of 7 editors-in-chief, led by the chief editor. Until 1 July 2011 Hans Laroes was editor in chief. On 25th January 2011...
, and RTL NewsRTL 4RTL 4 is a commercial television station in the Netherlands. It is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. The station has three sister tv channels: RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8...
. - Hero BrinkmanHero BrinkmanHero Brinkman is a Dutch politician and former police officer. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since November 30, 2006. He focuses on matters of internal affairs, government renewal, police, defense, administrative burden control, aliens and political asylum...
, Amsterdam policeman, nicknamed Rambo of the Bellamybuurt. - Teun van DijckTeun van DijckAntoine Pierre Cornelis van Dijck is a Dutch politician and former management consultant, restaurateur and civil servant. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since November 30, 2006. He focuses on matters of state pensions and other pensions...
, financial specialist with background in consultancy, a kindergartenKindergartenA kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
buddy of Wilders. - Willie DilleWillie DilleWilhelmina Ruurdina Dille is a Dutch politician. As a member of the Party for Freedom she has been an MP since June 17, 2010. She focuses on matters of services for the disabled, youth, adoption and casualties of war...
, formerly active in the health care industry specializing in disability issues. - Johan DriessenJohan DriessenJohannes Henricus Antonius Driessen is a Dutch politician and former lawyer. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010. He focuses on matters of development aid.- References : - External links :...
, former lawyer and parliamentary assistant to Geert Wilders. - André ElissenAndré ElissenAndré Elissen is a Dutch politician and former consultant and police officer. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010...
, former detective and Chief Superintendent in the Dutch Police ForceLaw enforcement in the NetherlandsLaw enforcement in the Netherlands is provided by 25 regional police forces , the Netherlands Police Agency and the Royal Marechaussee , a gendarmerie.-Organisation:... - Sietse FritsmaSietse FritsmaSietse Rindert Fritsma is a Dutch politician and former civil servant. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since November 30, 2006. He focuses on matters of social affairs, employment, political asylum and immigration...
, former civil servant with background in immigration matters. - Karen GerbrandsKaren GerbrandsKaren Gerbrands is a Dutch politician and former nurse. As a member of the Party for Freedom she has been an MP since June 17, 2010. She focuses on matters of health care policy and food safety...
, former nurse and CouncillorCouncillorA councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
in The HagueThe HagueThe 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... - Dion GrausDion GrausDion Jean Gilbert Graus is a Dutch politician and animal rights activist. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since 30 November 2006...
, animal activist, former television presenter, car salesman and sales representative in veterinary products. - Lilian HelderLilian HelderLilian Maria Johanna Sibertha Helder is a Dutch politician and former lawyer. As a member of the Party for Freedom she has been an MP since June 17, 2010. She focuses on matters of the judiciary....
, formerly employed in a law office. - Marcial HernandezMarcial HernandezMarcial Manrique Hernandez is a Dutch politician and former officer. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since 17 June 2010. He focuses on matters of the Dutch defense....
, former officer (rank of major) in the Royal Netherlands ArmyRoyal Netherlands ArmyThe Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands.-Short history:The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins date back to 1572, when the so-called Staatse Leger was raised...
Medical CorpsMedical CorpsA medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians...
. - Léon de JongLéon de JongLeon Willem Evert de Jong is a Dutch politician and former singer and salesman. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010...
, formerly employed in the music industry. - Joram van KlaverenJoram van KlaverenJoram Jaron van Klaveren is a Dutch politician and former educator. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010. He focuses on matters of desegregation, employment-to-population ratio, egalitarianism and emancipation...
, former CouncillorCouncillorA councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
in AlmereAlmereAlmere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
for the VVD. - Wim KortenoevenWim KortenoevenRobert Frank Willem Kortenoeven is a Dutch politician, author and journalist.- Biography :Kortenoeven engages in political developments in the Middle East, focusing on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He also writes about Jewish history...
, former freelance journalist specializing in the Arab-Israeli conflict. - Eric LucassenEric LucassenEric Lucassen is a Dutch politician and former digital music educator and sergeant. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010. He focuses on matters of Kingdom relations.- References : - External links :...
, former non-commisioned officer in the Royal Netherlands ArmyRoyal Netherlands ArmyThe Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands.-Short history:The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins date back to 1572, when the so-called Staatse Leger was raised...
, and bodyguard. - Richard de MosRichard de MosRichard de Mos is a Dutch politician and former educator. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since September 1, 2009. He focuses on matters of environmental policy, climate change, waterways, day care and taxicab policy...
, former primary school teacher, replaced Barry MadlenerBarry MadlenerBarry Madlener is a Dutch politician of the Party for Freedom . He is the Parliamentary leader of the Party for Freedom in the European Parliament since July 14, 2009. He was a Member of the House of Representatives from November 30, 2006 until July 14, 2009.-Early life:Madlener grew up in the...
after his election to 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...
. - Raymond de RoonRaymond de RoonRaymond de Roon is a Dutch politician and former prosecutor. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since November 30, 2006...
, a prosecutorProsecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
responsible for crime-fighting policies. - Roland van VlietRoland van VlietRudolf Aleida van Vliet is a Dutch politician and former tax advisor. As a member of the Party for Freedom he has been an MP since June 17, 2010. He focuses on matters of taxes, financial supervision, energy and innovation...
, former tax adviser.
Given that the party is still relatively young, its 2006 electoral showing was quite remarkable, giving the party more seats in the House of Representatives than well-established parties such as GreenLeft
GreenLeft
GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's 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...
and ChristianUnion
ChristianUnion
The ChristianUnion , abbreviated to CU, is a Dutch Christian democratic political party. A centrist party, the CU's policies combine social conservatism and soft euroscepticism with more centre-left positions on economic, immigration, and environmental issues.Founded in 2000 as a merger of the...
. Its surprisingly rapid rise in popularity also caught many political pundits off guard, especially as the pre-election polls were predominantly predicting a gain of no more than 6 seats.
The party has seen waves of popularity in the past. In December 2006, some polls put it ahead of the Labour Party
Labour Party (Netherlands)
The Labour Party , is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. Since the 2003 Dutch General Election, the PvdA has been the second largest political party in the Netherlands. The PvdA was a coalition member in the fourth Balkenende cabinet following 22 February 2007...
, indicating it would win 24 to 32 seats or more. Its backing for a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on Dutch ratification of the European Constitution was in line with the wishes of the majority of voters. New prosecution attempts against its leader for hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
and other related events may have helped propel the Party for Freedom to position in the polls in March 2009.
Classifications
The political position and the ideology of the party are hotly debated. In December 2008, the eighth study "Monitor Racism and Extremism", conducted by the Anne Frank FoundationAnne Frank Foundation
The Anne Frank Foundation or Anne Frank Stichting is a foundation in The Netherlands originally established to maintain the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam...
and the University of Leiden, has found that the Party for Freedom can be considered extreme
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
right-wing, although "with ifs and buts". Peter Rodrigues and Jaap van Donselaar, who have academically guided the study, explain this classification with the islamophobia
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
, nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, and "sharp aversion to the strange", subsumed as racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, which they have observed within the party.
In January 2010, the report Polarisatie en radicalisering in Nederland(transl. "Polarisation and radicalisation in the Netherlands") by political researchers Moors, Lenke Balogh, Van Donselaar and De Graaff from the Tilburg University research group IVA stated that the PVV was not an extreme right-wing party, but contained some radical right-wing elements. The study claims that the PVV holds xenophobic
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
ideas, but not antisemitic ideas – the PVV describes its culture as Jewish-Christian humanistic. "The PVV statements on Islamisation and non-Western immigrants appear to be discriminatory and the party organisation is authoritarian rather than democratic", said the researchers, who were looking into polarisation and radicalism across the Netherlands. They described the PVV as the "new radical right", a party with a national democratic ideology but without extreme right-wing roots. In particular, the report stated that the party's pro-Israel stance showed that it was not neo-Nazi. It tends however towards a national democratic ideology. Wilders called the report "scandalous"—in particular the link between defending the national interest and the radical right.
An alleged earlier version of the report, leaked to the Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant
De Volkskrant
de Volkskrant is a national daily Dutch morning newspaper, the leading centre-left broadsheet, although now in tabloid size.-History:...
in November 2009, said that Wilders' party is an extreme right-wing grouping and a threat to social cohesion and democracy. The paper claimed at the time the researchers were under pressure to water down the conclusions because of their political sensitivity. The Dutch Ministry of the Interior Guusje ter Horst
Guusje ter Horst
Guus ter Horst, aka Guus ter Dorst is a Dutch politician of the Dutch Labour Party . Since June 7, 2011 she has been a member of the Senate. From February 22, 2007 till February 23, 2010 she was Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Cabinet Balkenende IV...
, who commissioned the research, denied exerting any interference. In response, Wilders accused her of "playing a dirty game".
Some commentrators have argued that the party is far-right; for example, the ex-prime minister Van Agt
Dries van Agt
Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from December 19, 1977, until November 4, 1982....
regards the party as ultra-right-wing, and Bert de Vries
Bert de Vries
Berend de Vries is a Dutch former politician.-References:* at www.parlement.com...
(CDA) draw comparisons with the Centre Party
Centre Party (Netherlands)
The Centre Party was a Dutch nationalist extreme right-wing political party espousing an anti-immigrant program. The party was founded by Henry Brookman in 1980, and was represented by Hans Janmaat in the Dutch House of Representatives from 1982, until he was expelled from the party in 1984 and...
. The political scientist Lucardie, on the other hand, considers it necessary to reserve the 'far-right' qualification for national socialists and fascists.
International scholarly publications have repeatedly referred to the party as far-right. International media outlets and newspapers have followed this classification. Several scholars have described the party as anti-Muslim
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
. Some media, both in the Netherlands and international, have adopted this label. On the other hand, it has occasionally been regarded as "centre-right".
Fitna production
In 2008, the Friends of the Party of Freedom commissioned a producer, who acted under the name of "Scarlet Pimpernel Productions", a pseudonym adopted out of fear of reprisal, to produce FitnaFitna (film)
Fitna is a 2008 short political, propaganda film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders with his view on the religion of the Islam. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Suras of the Qur'an, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or...
, a short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
by Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
. Approximately 17 minutes in length, it shows selected excerpts from Sura
Sura
A sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
s of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or describing acts of violence or hatred by Muslims. The film attempts to demonstrate that the Qur'an motivates its followers to hate all who violate Islamic teachings. Consequently, the film argues that Islam encourages acts of terrorism, antisemitism, violence against women
Violence against women
Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...
and homosexuals, and Islamic universalism
Universalism
Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
. A large part of the film deals with the influence of Islam on the Netherlands
Islam in the Netherlands
The history of Islam in the Netherlands started in the 19th century when the Netherlands experienced sporadic Muslim migration from the Dutch East Indies when it was a colony from the Netherlands...
. The film's title, the Arabic word "fitna", is used to describe either "disagreement and division among people" or a "test of faith in times of trial". Wilders, a prominent critic of Islam, described the film as "a call to shake off the creeping tyranny of Islamization
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
".
'Infiltration'
In January 2010, Karen Geurtsen, a Dutch journalist from the magazine HP/De TijdHP/De Tijd
HP/De Tijd is a Dutch weekly magazine, published by Audax Publishing. HP/De Tijd was founded in 1990, after a merger of the Haagse Post and De Tijd. It is conventionally considered to be one of the four most influential written media in its sector, along with De Groene Amsterdammer, Vrij Nederland...
, revealed a painful breach of security in the PVV and especially around leader Geert Wilders. The Party had often been depicted as a fortress, having no members and avoiding the 'left-wing' Dutch press. In 2009, Geurtsen spent four months working for the party undercover, posing as an intern, "to find out what the party is really like". Afterwards, she claimed that she had enjoyed unchecked access to Wilders. "I could have killed him", were the first words of the article that she published about this operation. She said she had had "dozens" of opportunities to take his life.
On Twitter, Geert Wilders responded that "the left-wing media had sunk to new depths". Geurtsen insisted that she infiltrated the party "as a service to potential PVV voters who want to know more".
See also
- Criticism of IslamCriticism of IslamCriticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
- Criticism of IslamismCriticism of IslamismCriticism of Islamism concerns critique of those beliefs or notions ascribed to Islamism or Islamist movements. Such criticisms focus on the role of Islam in legislation, the relationship between Islamism and freedom of expression and the rights of women.Among those authors and scholars who have...
- Criticism of multiculturalismCriticism of multiculturalismCriticism of multiculturalism questions the multicultural ideal of the co-existence of distinct ethnic cultures within one nation-state. Multiculturalism is a particular subject of debate in certain European nations that were once associated with a single, homogeneous, national cultural identity...
External links
Home page of Partij voor de Vrijheid Party For Freedom in the press- Expatica – 'Turkey in the EU? Never!
- Expatica – Moroccans want Wilders prosecuted
- Wikinews article on declaration of independence
- Party For Freedom in English