Evangelical People's Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Netherlands |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Other countries • Politics Portal |
The Evangelical People's Party (Dutch: Evangelische Volkspartij) was a party of the Christian left in the Netherlands it was represented in the Dutch Parliament between 1982 and 1986.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Evangelical People's Party was created in 1981 as a fusion of the Evangelical Progressive People's Party (Evangelische Progressieve Volkspartij) and a part of a grouping within the Christian Democratic Appeal called Not by Bread Alone (Niet bij Brood Alleen). From 1982 to 1986 it had one seat in the Second Chamber, forming part of the opposition. Notable members were Cathy Ubels and Chiel von Meyenfeldt. It had 2820 members in 1983.
As a small leftwing party it was forced to cooperate with other leftwing parties. It joined talks to form a green left alliance with the small leftwing PSP and the green PPR. When the communist CPN joined the Evangelical People's Party left.
In 1990, a year afterwards, the three other parties finally formed a new party, GroenLinks. What was left of the EVP joined them too, without having influence on the party's program and organisation.
In 1991 the party was officially liquidated. The party's official bulletin, EVP Info, was reformed to a magazine called the "Left Cheek", referring to the New Testament. The magazine still exists and the group around it is still an important force within the GreenLeft.
[edit] Predecessors
The EVP's direct predecessor was the Evangelical Solidarity Party (Evangelische Solidariteitspartij), founded in 1970 by "Christian radicals" from the ARP, a Protestant predecessor of the Christian Democratic Appeal. The party never obtained any seats in parliament. In 1978 the Evangelical Solidarity Party changed its name to Evangelical Progressive People's Party.
The party felt linked to the Christian Democratic Union. The CDU was a minor party in the interbellum, which later joined the PvdA. It was, like the EVP, against war and in favour of income redistribution, it was however firmly pro-life and in favor of keeping Sunday the sabbath day.
[edit] Ideology
The party had a leftwing program with many green elements: It was opposed to war and favored income redistribution. But the party also spoke of an economy of enough and the possibility for every citizen to take a state paid sabbatical. Unlike other Christian Left parties it was in favour of abortion and euthanasia and did not distinguish itself from the other left-wing parties.
