Reformed Political Party
Template:Infobox Dutch Political Party The Politically Reformed Party (Dutch: Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform, but is a synonym for Calvinist. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and for its entire existence has been in opposition. For its orthodox political ideals and its refusal to cooperate in any cabinet, the party is called a testimonial party.
Party history
Foundation
The SGP was founded on April 24, 1918, by several conservative members of the Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party. They did not agree with female suffrage, which the ARP had made possible. Furthermore they were against the alliance the ARP had formed with the Catholic General League. The party entered in the 1918 general elections, but it was unable to win any seats. The leading figure in the party's foundation was Yerseke minister Gerrit Hendrik Kersten.
1922-1945
In the 1922 election the party entered Parliament. In this period the SGP became most noted for proposing to abolish the Dutch representation at the Holy See during each annual parliamentary debate on the budget of the ministry of foreign affairs. Each year the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU) voted in favour. The CHU was in cabinet with the Catholic General League, but many of its members and supporters still had strong feelings against the Roman-Catholic Church. In 1925 the leftwing opposition composed of the leftwing liberal VDB and the social-democratic SDAP voted in favour of the motion. They were indifferent to the representation at the Holy See, but saw this as a possibility to divide the confessional cabinet. And indeed the cabinet fell over this issue, in what is known as the Nacht van Kersten (Night of Kersten).
In the subsequent elections, the party won one seat, and in the 1929 election the party won another. It remained stable in the 1933 elections but lost one seat in the 1937 elections in which ARP prime minister Hendrikus Colijn performed particularly well. During the Second World War, Kersten cooperated with the Nazi occupiers to allow his paper, the Banier, to be printed and had condemned the resistance. After the war, he was not allowed to return to the House of Representatives.
1945 - present
Kersten was succeeded by minister Piet Zandt, under whose leadership the SGP was very stable, continually getting 2% of votes. In 1956 the SGP profited from the enlargement of parliament, and it got a seat in the Senate, which the party lost in 1960, but regained in 1971. In 1961 Zandt died and he was succeeded by engineer Cornelis van Dis. After ten years he stood down in favour of minister Hette Abma, who also stepped down after ten years, in favour of engineer Henk van Rossum. In 1984 the SGP joined the two other orthodox Protestant parties RPF and the GPV in order to gain one seat in the European Parliament, it was taken by SGP engineer Van der Waal. In 1986 Van Rossum was succeeded by Bas van der Vlies, who led the party till March 2010, when he was succeeded by Kees van der Staaij. In 1994 the party lost one seat in parliament, which it regained in 1998 but lost again in 2002. After the general election of 2003, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) held talks with the SGP, but ultimately the Democrats 66 joined the Second Balkenende cabinet instead of the SGP, mostly because of the ideological differences between VVD and SGP.
On September 7, 2005 the district court of The Hague judged that the party could no longer receive subsidies from the government, because women were forbidden to be members of the party. This was found to be a violation of the 1981 UN Treaty on Women in which the Netherlands committed to fighting discrimination. It also was a violation of first article of the Dutch constitution, the principle of non-discrimination. The Dutch Council of State overturned the decision though, saying that a party's political philosophy is superior, and that women have the opportunity to join political parties where they can obtain a leadership role.[1]
Female members of the SGP-youth (which does allow female membership) said however that they did not feel discriminated or repressed. During a party congress on June 24, 2006, the SGP lifted the ban on female membership. Political positions inside and outside the party are open to women. The party supports mixed lists for elections.
Ideology and issues
As an orthodox Protestant radical conservative party, the SGP draws much from its ideology from the reformed tradition, specifically the Three Principles of Unity and the old text of the Belgic Confession (Nederlandse Geloofsbelijdenis). The latter text is explicitly mentioned in the first principle of the party,[2] where it is stated that the SGP strives towards a government totally based on the Bible. This first principle also states that the uncut version of the Belgic Confession is meant, which adds the task of opposing anti-Christian powers to the description of the government's roles and tasks.[3] The party is a strict defender of the separation between church and state,[4] rejecting "both the state church and church state". Both church and state are believed to have distinct roles in society, while working towards the same goal, but despite this, the SGP advocates theocracy.[5] The SGP opposes freedom of religion, but advocates freedom of conscience instead, noting that "obedience to the law of God cannot be forced".[6]
The SGP opposes feminism, and concludes, on Biblical grounds, that men and women are of equal value (gelijkwaardig) but not equal (gelijk).[7] Men and women, so the party claims, have different places in society. This belief led to restricting party membership to men until 2006, when this restriction became subject to controversy[8] and was eventually removed.[9]
The party does not seek to be in government, but instead uses parliament to express its principles. Therefore the party is called a testimonial party.
In controversial discussions in the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), the SGP can often be heard voicing an opinion stressing the importance of the rule of law, parliamentary procedure and rules of order, regardless of ideological agreement. The SGP forbid women to be member of the party until 2006. The party favours the re-introduction of the death penalty in the Netherlands. They base this on the Bible, specifically on Genesis 9:6, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man," and Exodus 21:12, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death."
Internationally the party is comparable to the Swiss Federal Democratic Union, a conservative Protestant party. It is also similar to the American Christian Right.
In Scandinavia, the Faroese Centre Party is an example of a bible-fundamentalist party. In comparison, the Norwegian Christian People's Party, the Swedish Christian Democrats and Danish Christian Democrats are less othodox and in line with mainstream European Christian Democracy.
Representation
This is a list of representations of Reformed Political Party in the Dutch parliament, as well as the provincial, municipal and European elections. The party's lijsttrekker has been the same as the fractievoorzitter of that year in every election.
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- * in combined ChristianUnion/SGP parliamentary parties (estimated).
- In 2007, the total number of seats for election in the provincial elections was reduced. Proportionally, the party went from 2,51% to 2,39% in that year, and the combined list from 0,77% to 0,88%.
- Source: nlverkiezingen.com
House of Representatives
Since the 2006 elections the party has had two representatives in the House of Representatives:
Senate
Since the 2007 Senate elections, the party has had two representatives in the Senate:
Municipal and provincial government
Provincial government
In provincial governments, the party participates in the Zeeland provincial executive.[10] There, the party is the strongest, with over 10% of the vote. It has 14 members of provincial legislature.
The table below shows the election results of the 2003 provincial election in each province. It shows the areas where the Reformed Political Party is strong, namely in the Dutch bible belt: a band from Zeeland, via parts of South Holland and Utrecht, Gelderland to Overijssel.
| Province | Votes (%) | Result (seats) |
|---|---|---|
| Flevoland | 3.26 | 1 |
| Friesland | 5.61* | 1** |
| Gelderland | 5.02 | 4 |
| Overijssel | 3.53 | 2 |
| Utrecht | 3.58 | 2 |
| Zeeland | 12.68 | 6 |
| South Holland | 4.67 | 4 |
| North Holland | 1.90* | 1** |
| Drenthe | 0.34 | 0 |
| North Brabant | 1.59* | 0** |
* result of combined ChristianUnion/SGP lists. ** members of the SGP (estimate) in combined ChristianUnion/SGP parliamentary parties.
Municipal government
5 of the 414 mayors of the Netherlands are member of the SGP,[11] and the party participates in several local executives, usually in municipalities located within the Dutch Bible Belt. The party has 40 aldermen and 244 members of local legislature. In many municipalities where the SGP is weaker, it cooperates with the ChristenUnie, presenting common lists.
European Parliament
Since the European Parliament election, 1984 the party has one elected representative in the European Parliament. From 1984 till 1997 Leen van der Waal was the representative, from 1999 until now Bas Belder is the party's representative. In the European elections, the SGP formed one parliamentary party with the ChristenUnie, called ChristenUnie-SGP. It was part of the Independence and Democracy multinational party. After the 2009 European Parliament elections it is part of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) party.
- Bas Belder, member
Electorate
The SGP has a very stable electorate, the party varies between 2 and 3 seats. The party has been called “an almost perfect illustration of Duverger's category of “fossilized” minor party.”[12] Most of its electorate is formed by so-called "bevindelijk gereformeerden", reformed for whom personal religious experience is very important. This group is formed by several smaller churches such as the Christian Reformed Churches, Reformed Parishes, Old Reformed Church, as well as the conservative wing of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed League.
The SGP's support is concentrated geographically in the Dutch bible belt, a band of reformed municipalities ranging from Zeeland in the South via Goeree-Overflakkee and the Alblasserwaard in South Holland and the Veluwe in Gelderland to the Western part of Overijssel, around Staphorst. The SGP is also very strong on the former island Urk. The party scored absolute majorities in the several villages, in Uddel even 65,2% of the vote.
Organization
Organizational structure
The highest organ of the SGP is the congress, it is formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convenes once every year. It appoints the party board and decides the order of the Senate, House of Representatives, European Parliament candidates list and has the last say over the party program. The SGP chairman is always a minister. Since 2001 this position is ceremonial, as the general chair leads the party's organization.
The party has 245 municipal branches and has a provincial federation in each province, except for Limburg
Linked organisations
The party publishes the Banner two-weekly since 1921. The scientific institute of the party is called the Guido de Brès-foundation, it publishes the magazine Zicht (Sight). The youth organisation of the SGP is called the SGP-jongeren, with 15,000 members the largest political youth organization of the Netherlands. It publishes two magazines Klik, SGP Jeugdblad (Click, SGP youth magazine) and Ons Contact, SGP Jongeren blad (Our contact, SGP youth magazine).
The SGP participates in the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.
Pillarized organisations
The SGP still has close links with several other orthodox Protestant organizations, such as several reformed churches and Het Reformatorisch Dagblad. Together they form a small but strong orthodox-reformed pillar.
Relationships to other parties
Until 1963 the SGP was relatively isolated in parliament. The strongly antipapal SGP refused to cooperate with Catholic KVP or the secularists (the liberal VVD and the social-democratic PvdA). The larger Protestant ARP had some sympathy for the party, but cooperated tightly with the KVP and the Protestant CHU. In 1963 another orthodox Protestant party, the GPV entered parliament, in 1981 they were joined by the RPF. Together these three parties formed the "Small Christian parties". They shared the same orthodox Protestant political ideals and had the same political strategy, astestimonial parties. They cooperated in municipalities, both in municipal executives, where the parties were strong, as well as in common municipal parties, where the parties were weak. In the 1984 European election the parties presented a common list and they won one seat in parliament. After 1993 the cooperation between the GPV and the RPF intensified, but the SGP's position at the time on female suffrage prevented the SGP joining this closer cooperation. However, in 2000 the GPV and RPF fused to form the ChristenUnie. The SGP and the CU work together closely.
Notes
- ^ "SGP will get subsidy after all". Expatica. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
- ^ SGP 2003, p11
- ^ SGP 2003, p16
- ^ SGP 2003, p17
- ^ Dölle 2005, p104
- ^ SGP 2003
- ^ SGP 2003, p37
- ^ "Party penalised for woman snub". BBC. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
- ^ Davies 2006
- ^ College van Gedeputeerde Staten van Zeeland. "Nieuwe Verbindingen" (PDF) (in Dutch). Provincie Zeeland. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- ^ "Landelijk overzicht burgemeestersposten" (in Dutch). Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- ^ The Dynamics of Dutch Politics by Robert C. Bone In: The Journal of Politics Vol. 24, No. 1 (Feb., 1962), p. 43
References
- Davies, Gareth (2006). "Thou Shalt Not Discriminate Against Women". European Constitutional Law Review,. 2. T.M.C.Asser Press: 152–166. doi:10.1017/S1574019606001520. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - Dölle, prof. mr. drs. A.H.M. (2005). De SGP onder vuur (PDF) (in Dutch). Centre for the Documentation of Dutch Political Parties (DNPP), part of the University of Groningen. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- Hippe, J (1988). Reformatorisch Staatkundig Verbond? (PDF) (in Dutch). DNPP. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- Reformed Political Party (SGP) (2006). Verkiezingsprogramma 2006-2011 - Naar eer en geweten (PDF) (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- Reformed Political Party (SGP) (2003) [1996]. Toelichting op het Program van Beginselen van de Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (in Dutch). 's-Gravenhage: Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij. ISBN 9072164105. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- NLverkiezingen.com. "Dutch elections". Retrieved 14 October 2007.
- Parlementair Documentatie Centrum. "Nacht van Kersten" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
- Parlementair Documentatie Centrum. "G.H. Kersten" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
- Parlementair Documentatie Centrum. "Staatkundig-Gereformeerde Partij (SGP)" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
External links
- SGP website (note: closed on Sundays)
- SGP European Parliament