Democrats 66
Democraten 66 ( D66 ) is a social liberal party in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1966 to break the established party system, and has been represented since 1967 in varying strength in Parliament. D66 is considered center party par excellence. In the years 1973-1977, 1981-1982, 1994-2002 and 2003-2006 she was involved in the Dutch government.
Well-known political leader of the early years were the journalist Hans van Mierlo and children's book author January Terlouw. Since 2006, D66 is led by art historian Alexander Pechtold. The youth organization is named Jonge Democraten (JD).
- 3.1 Second Chamber of the States General
- 3.2 First Chamber
- 3.3 European Parliament
- 3.4 Provinces and municipalities
History
Establishment and purpose in the 1960s
D66 was founded on 14 October 1966 by a group of intellectuals, as the most important person to the journalist Hans van Mierlo soon crystallized, which functioned twice as party leader, and also held various offices of state.
Although the party is now widely classified as socially liberal, this is not in its original self-image. D66 was initially started to provide a reasonable alternative ( redelijk alternatief ) to the established political structures of the Netherlands offer to bring more transparency in the public debate and to achieve a higher level of direct democracy. These included the demand for the direct election of mayors and of the Prime Minister and later abandoned idea to blow up the party system and to bring a new, large "progressive" people's party about.
First, so not the creation of an ordinary party was aimed at. In an open discussion process should be developed under the public program and organization form the widest possible participation. Early elections in 1967 shortened this process and led to the fact that D66 -oriented earlier than planned to the conventional political rules.
Despite a lead time of just a few months D66 achieved in the parliamentary elections in 1967 right away 4.5 percent of the vote and seven deputies could send in the Second Chamber. Since this initial success, the democrats are continuous - albeit in very different strengths - represented in the Dutch parliament.
Left participation in government in the 1970s
The democrats joined in the run-up to the election in 1971 the Progressief Akkoord to, an alliance with the Socialist Labour Party and the recently founded (left Christian ) PPR. This alliance was with the declared intention in the election campaign, the push back until then dominant role of the traditional three Christian parties. D66 was able to increase its share of the vote to 6.8 percent and win eleven mandates; their electoral alliance remained far from the majority. But the Christian-run minority government formed failed soon.
Therefore Already in 1972 it came again go to the polls, finally in 1973 to the formation of the Cabinet den Uyl ( PvdA) led. At this first majority left-wing government, the D66, although these were again suffered in the elections with a score of 4.2 per cent and six seats a setback involved. The government involvement seemed the party does not get well: the poll numbers declined and in their own ranks ( the thinned ) the demand for self-dissolution was noisy because many saw D66 arrived at a point contradicted the output targets.
Up and down under changing leadership
Van Mierlo gave the party leadership in 1974; under his successor of John Terlouw, there was a re-orientation, which led to greater distancing from the PvdA among others. It succeeded D66 in the second half of the 1970s relatively well to take demands of the new social movements (such as the environmental and peace movements ). This paid off in the next election: 1977 D66 could easily improve their result with 5.4 percent of the vote and eight seats again. The first direct elections to the European Parliament, the democrats received 9 percent of the vote and placed two of the 25 Dutch MPs. The election of 1981 gave them the then-record score of 11.1 percent, which allowed them to increase the number of its deputies to 17. Due to the good results D66 was involved in the formation of a large coalition of PvdA and CDA and found three of the 15 ministers; January Terlouw was one of the two deputy prime ministers.
As this coalition already after one year broke up, formed the CDA with the Democraten a minority government until the elections in the fall of 1982, this was not rewarded by their voters. D66 fell back to a voting share of 4.3 percent and only possessed six deputies. Although she now once again delivering opposition work, their values decreased in the following years further. In the European elections of 1984, she resigned from the Parliament.
In this critical situation again took her co-founder Hans van Mierlo, the top candidate for the election campaign of the year 1986., With earnings of 6.1 percent ( nine seats), the downward trend has stopped. Again working in the opposition could further expand its position the democrats in the elections of the year 1989: 7.9 percent of the vote bestowed on them again a dozen deputies.
"Purple " Coalition 1994-2002
The 1990s brought the first opposition democrats continue their best-ever election results and their longest involvement in a government. In the parliamentary election in 1994 the party won 15.5 percent of the vote and 24 seats. For the first time in the history of the Netherlands led to the formation of a cabinet without confessional party. The " purple " coalition consisted of the PvdA and the two liberal parties VVD and D66 under Prime Minister Wim Kok. In the cabinet D66 presented four ministers, van Mierlo became Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
In the 1998 election, the coalition has been strengthened, but zugutekam only the two other partners: The Democraten fell to nine percent of the vote back and lost ten seats. Mathematically, they were no longer needed for the majority of education, but they were still the hinge between the Social Democrats and right-wing liberals. They could occupy only three ministerial posts; the top candidate Els Borst -Eilers now functioned as Deputy Prime Minister and retained the departmental sport and health.
In May 1999 there was a coalition crisis, as an intended mainly of D66 constitutional amendment imposing a " corrective " referendum failed in the First Chamber. Part of the protest voters lost the democrats already in this phase of the alliance gaining strength Groen Links in the left Christians (EPP and PPR), pacifist Socialists and former Communists found themselves.
Heavy casualties 2003-2007
In the 2002 election, all three governing parties lost votes on a massive scale. D66 fell to 5.1 percent and seven seats, while the right-wing populist protest party Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF ) was sensational 17 percent from a standing start (it was with 26 mandates the second strongest faction ). The Christian Democrats rose again and were strongest. Their political leader Jan Peter Balkenende formed a coalition with right- liberal VVD and the LPF. Just one year later, in 2003, new elections were needed because Balkenende the LPF did not look more than capable of governing.
While the LPF lost about two-thirds of their voters, the PvdA has experienced the most significant gains. However Strongest force remained the CDA, thus could also Balkenende will remain in office. He rested now in Parliament on a bare majority of CDA, VVD and D66. A fraction of this coalition threatened in the spring of 2005, when particularly at the instigation of D66 envisaged direct election of mayors failed due to a social democratic blocking minority in the First Chamber. Thom de Graaf, D66 - Minister of bestuurlijke Vernieuwing (about: State renewal or reform of the executive branch ), resigned and pleaded for a discharge of his party from the coalition.
However, the three parties agreed to Paasakkoord on further reforms, and a special party of D66 on 2 April 2005 in The Hague, which was attended by about 2,700 members, spoke with a clear majority in favor of continuing the coalition. The poor performance of the democrats in the local elections in March 2006, where they received 2.6 percent of the vote and declining as almost half of their mandates, sparked a renewed debate about the whereabouts in the ruling coalition. At the party congress on 13 May 2006 in Zutphen received the request to terminate the coalition, again no majority. The dissolution of the party, was also discussed on the in advance, was not on the agenda; However, a small group of disappointed members of a new organization called the DeZES. In June 2006, the members of the party Alexander Pechtold chose the top candidates for the upcoming parliamentary election. He sat down beside it by just against a contestant Lousewies van der Laan.
Shortly thereafter caused D66 that rather than expecting a new parliament had to be elected - because they are now but left the government coalition. She agreed with the Left Opposition for a censure motion on Integration Minister Rita Verdonk (VVD ), which has been criticized in connection with the controversial expatriation of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. This request was rejected by a parliamentary majority of CDA, VVD and smaller right-wing parties. As Prime Minister Balkenende then held on to Verdonk, the minister of D66 in turn declared their resignation and triggered a government crisis which led to early elections on November 22.
This, however, against the background of very rough Survey Results - At their fall conference on October 7, D66 her 40th anniversary celebrated. In the election on 22 November 2006 they lost again voters; with only two percent of the vote, they fell back to eighth place.
In the elections to the county councils on 7 March 2007, the democrats came across the country to 2.6 percent of the vote, which is a slight improvement over the choice of autumn represented, on the other hand, however, meant a loss of about 2 percent compared to the same election in 2003. As a result of this finding they possessed in the new First chamber only two seats ( instead of the previous three).
Consolidation since 2007
In the aftermath D66 was able to expand its position in favor of the voters gradually again as the opposition led by Pechtold. In the European elections on 4 June 2009, it reached its top candidate Sophie in 't Veld, a voting share of 11.3 percent ( compared with 4.2 percent in 2004 ), was thus able to increase its number of MEPs from one to three and the first time since again celebrate a significant electoral success 15 years. She was able to become the strongest political force in some cities ( including Amsterdam and Utrecht) with voting shares above twenty percent. During the year, the party was able to increase its membership by about fifty percent, reaching over 18,000, the highest in its history.
The upward trend was confirmed in the municipal elections on March 3, 2010, when D66 with a nationwide voting share of 8.1 percent has tripled its earnings in 2006. Similar to the European elections left them in several cities (including suffering or Hilversum ) with values greater than twenty percent all competing parties behind.
For the early elections to the Second Chamber on June 9, 2010 Alexander Pechtold was elected top candidate of the party again. Your program presented the democrats under the title We sake het different ( "We do it differently "). With 6.9 percent of the party came to an average value. In the last election campaign phase, it explicitly advocated a coalition paars plus (VVD, PvdA, D66 and Groen Links ), but was found after forming a government in opposition to the tolerance of the PVV 's center-right government of VVD and CDA again.
Even in the choice of provincial parliaments on 2 March 2011, the party was able to record a success; with 8.3 percent of the vote and five seats, resulting in the First Chamber, they could triple their 2007 result in about.
Having led by Geert Wilders PVV refused their assent to an austerity package minority government in April 2012, which led to the resignation of the Cabinet Rutte I agreed the fraction of D66 together with Groen Links and ChristianUnion for a negotiated with VVD and CDA concept for a Stabiblitätsprogramm. In the parliamentary election in the fall of 2012, the party increased its vote share to eight percent and send a dozen deputies to the Second Chamber. At the beginning of 2014 reached its membership with 23 767 the highest ever value.
Position in the political spectrum
The story of D66 represents a continuity that was denied to the party most start-ups in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, they could not catch up properly to the three traditional government parties. Constant over 10 to 15 percent of the voters only achieve CDA, PvdA and VVD; this still represented - albeit to a lesser extent - the three great ideological camp of the Christian-oriented voter, the worker and the more classical liberals.
D66, however, does not represent the pillars of Dutch society was initially even begun with the aim of promoting the reduction of pillarisation and to bring more openness in the political process. However, it has only one core voters by more than two percent, and has to compete with a relatively large and constantly changing number of smaller parties to use the uncommitted voters. Partial hang the very different election results together with the fact that D66 is for many voters of the Big Three a kind of alternative party if they are currently dissatisfied with their actual preference party. According to a recent study, they therefore possess a potential of around a quarter of the electorate.
In contrast to the small competitors, the democrats can indeed look back on a number of government investments and for each of the three major parties, a possible coalition partner, the voters but they do seem to prefer as an opposition. For their biggest crises to be sure not coincidentally with government investments associated: in 1973/74 they lost almost all their base and were on the verge of self-dissolution, 1981/82 they lost in just over a year, two -thirds of their voters one because they are using the CDA a minority cabinet formed, and its long-standing participation in the " purple " coalition of 1994 to 2002 resulted in the long term to the same effect. In the years 2003-2006 they were in a critical phase. On the basis of their weakest to date election results, they participated in a center -right coalition and had trouble to make visible their social liberal profile for voters.
The end of June 2006 consummated withdrawal from the coalition came as an attempt to position themselves better for the early elections in the autumn of the year, too late. In her new role opposition there but since 2007 succeed with the campaign " Anders yes " under the leadership of Alexander Pechtold win back voters and members to a high degree. In 2010 the party won in the election greatly added, and since 2012 D66 is represented in the second chamber with twelve members.
Election results
Second Chamber of the States General
Information Data Bank verkiezingsuitslagen.
First Chamber
European Parliament
In the European Parliament the party is represented in 't Veld since 2009 with three deputies, led by Sophie. They belong to the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Provinces and municipalities
D66 sends 42 MPs in the parliaments of the provinces and has since the election of March 2010 over 534 representatives in local councils. It represents 23 of 362 mayors.