The Greens (Netherlands)

The Greens (De Groenen) are a Dutch deep green party, which has been of only marginal importance in Dutch politics, as it has never gained national representation on its own.

History

In 1983 members of the Green Platform, an alliance of the Political Party of Radicals (PPR) and municipal green parties, became dissatisfied with the future of Green politics within the PPR. Before the European election of 1984 the Green Platform (under the name "Green Party of the Netherlands (GPN)" formed a common list with the PPR and the leftwing Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP) under the name "Green Progressive Accord".

A group, led by Marten Bierman founded the Greens on December 17, 1983. They entered the European elections under the name "European Greens". The party's foundation was supported by the Francophone Belgian green party Ecolo, while the (more powerful) German Greens supported the Green Progressive Accord. The party became involved in the formation of the Coordination of European Green Parties. It won only 1.3% of vote in the 1984 European parliament election, not enough for a seat in the European Parliament. The Green Progressive Accord joined the Green Radical Alternative European Link in the European Parliament, by passing the Greens to international cooperation.

Gradually the party began to attract more former members of the Radicals, such as (former Provo) Roel van Duijn who joined the party in 1985. Van Duijn who had been on the European list of the Green Progressive Accord in 1984, became involved in municipal Amsterdam politics. He founded "Green Amsterdam" and successfully contested the 1986 municipal elections. For the 1986 national elections the organisation of the Greens was renewed. It renamed itself "Federative Greens" and organised a Green Council, representing municipal Green parties. The party had a strong federal structure and only municipal and provincial parties could join the party. The party was oriented towards dissatisfied centrist voters such as progressive Christians and former Democrats 66 voters. It won only 0.2% of the votes, not enough for a seat. In 1987 the Greens participated in the North Holland, South Holland and Gelderland provincial elections. They won one seat on North Holland Provincial council, partially because of the support of "Green Amsterdam". On March 10, 1989 after a fusion process of two years "Green Amsterdam" and the "Federative Greens" merged to form the "Greens".

In 1989 the GreenLeft was formed by PPR, PSP, CPN and the Christian left Evangelical People's Party. The Greens rejected the formation of this party because it emphasises social-economic issues too much and environmental issues too little. Independently, they participated in the 1989 elections with Roel van Duijn as their top candidate. The party won only 0.35% of votes and no seats. GreenLeft formally joined the Coordination of European Green Parties. In reaction to bad electoral results in 1990 and 1991 the party abandoned its federal structure in 1992. This led to considerable upheaval within the party.

For the Dutch general election of 1994, GreenLeft proposed a candidate chosen by the Greens place 10 on their list, but this was rejected by the Green's Congress. The party entered the election alone and won only 0.2% of vote. In the 1994 municipal elections the party expanded its seats and won seats in Leiden, Nijmegen, Zwolle and Amsterdam. In 1991 GreenLeft MEP Herman Verbeek left his party and continued as an independent. He became a member of the Greens in 1994 and led their European list in the European Parliament election. The party won only 2.36% of vote, not enough for a seat.

In 1995 the party contested several provincial elections. It won seats in North Holland and South Holland (on a combined GreenLeft/The Greens list). The party cooperated with several provincial parties to form a common list for the indirect elections for the Senate by the Provincial Councils. The first seat was taken by the "Federation of Frisian Municipal-interest Parties" and the second by Green-founder Marten Bierman. Bierman was elected by preference votes. He formed a separate Independent Senate Fraction, a first in Dutch politics, because before no party had previously had representation in the Senate without also being present in the House of Representatives. In the 1998 elections the party ran its own unsuccessful campaign and it won only .2% of the votes. The party did keep its seats in municipal councils and expanded to Haarlem, Zeist, Arnhem, Groningen and Haren. In reaction to the 1998 election defeat the party decided to abandon national politics and focus on the municipal level.

In the 2002, many prominent Greens cooperated in Liveable Netherlands, a new political formation based on municipal parties, which campaigned on an anti-establishment ticket hoping to improve the liveability of cities, in the social, economical, safety and environmental senses. When Pim Fortuyn, a rightwing populist, was elected as their top candidate, many of their members left Leefbaar Nederland to found Durable Netherlands, which combined liveability with durability and diversity. It was unable to gain any representation in 2002 and Dutch general election of 2003 elections. In 2003 the Frisian National Party claimed the seat in the Senate, as the Greens had lost all their provincial representation. In 2006 the party lost all its seats on municipal councils (even in Amsterdam where it was traditionally very strong) except for Zwolle where it ran on a combined GreenLeft/Greens list. It still has some seats on district councils in Amsterdam. The Greens participated in the European elections of 2009, received 0.2% of the vote and no seats.

Ideology

The Greens is an ecologist party. It advocates a basic income and emphasizes its anti-militarism.

Representation

This table shows the Greens' results at elections to the House of Representatives, Senate, European Parliament, States-Provincial and municipalities.

*: For Green Amsterdam (not a part of the Greens until 1991) **: For the Independent Senate Fraction, also representing other provincial parties.

Electorate

Because the electorate of the party is small it is hard to identify sociological characteristics of their voters. The electorate of the party is concentrated in Amsterdam, where the party has the strongest municipal chapter.

Organisation

The Greens changed their structure from a federal to a centralised organization with the change of statutes in 1991, effected in 1994.

Comparison between The Greens and GreenLeft

The Greens are compared to GreenLeft anti-militaristic. For example The Greens sued the Dutch government in 2001 for taking part in operation Enduring Freedom^[1], while GreenLeft is supporting in 2011 the continuing presence of Dutch military in Afghanistan. Furthermore The Greens focus on introduction of a basic income which is rejected by GreenLeft.

See also

• Green party
• Green politics
• List of environmental organizations

External links

1. ^ http://zoeken.rechtspraak.nl/detailpage.aspx?ljn=AN8071 Supreme Court of the Netherlands 6 Feb 2004, VJV, De Groenen e.a. vs. State of the Netherlands

• Official web site, in Dutch