Misplaced Pages

#629370

89-751: Examples of "green left" parties include GroenLinks in the Netherlands, the Green Party of the United States , the Left-Green Movement in Iceland, and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand . The name " Green Left " is also used by a variety of organisations which espouse socialist or Marxist principles, but with a greater emphasis on environmental preservation than previous iterations of socialism and communism . In Europe ,

178-628: A social-democratic party which has traditionally been the largest centre-left party in the Netherlands. The founding parties were the (formerly-communist) Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN), the Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP), which originated in the peace movement , the green -influenced Political Party of Radicals (PPR), originally a progressive Christian party, and the progressive Christian Evangelical People's Party . These four parties were frequently classified as "small left"; to indicate their marginal existence. In

267-574: A book in which discussed in detail how she had taken part in the Iranian Revolution , because this information was already known by the party board this did not lead to any upheaval. In November 2005, the party board asked Senator Sam Pormes to give up his seat. Continuing rumours about his involvement with guerrilla-training in Yemen in the 1970s and the 1977 train hijacking by Moluccan youth and allegations of welfare fraud were harmful for

356-470: A coalition government if the other party also joined, thereby forming an alliance in the negotiations. In August 2021, PvdA members passed multiple motions tabled by the Red-Green movement that forced the party to not enter government without GL and further steps to strengthen the cooperation. People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) leader Mark Rutte strongly opposed forming a coalition with both

445-428: A job or education. If at the end of the year one should not succeed in finding a job, the government will offer one a job for the minimum wage . In order to create more employment, they want to implement the green tax shift which will lower taxes on lower paid labour. This would be compensated by higher taxes on pollution. In order to increase prospects for the underprivileged, it wants to invest in education, especially

534-531: A member of the Party of European Socialists , the parties campaigned together as GroenLinks-PvdA for the 2024 European Parliament election . GroenLinks describes itself as " green ", " social " and " tolerant ". The party's voters are concentrated in larger cities, particularly in college towns . GroenLinks was founded in 1989 as a merger of four parties that were to the left of the Labour Party (PvdA),

623-533: A merger with that party; they participated in the 2023 Dutch Senate election as one. GroenLinks and the Labour Party announced in 2023 that they would also participate as one, GroenLinks–PvdA , in the general elections of 2023 , as members of both parties voted in favour of an alliance. The party combines green and left-wing ideals. The core ideals of GroenLinks are codified in the party's programme of principles (called Partij voor de Toekomst , "Party for

712-493: A motion "We want to choose". They wanted a serious choice for such an important office. The party's board announced a new electoral procedure. During the congress Kathalijne Buitenweg , an MEP and candidate, announced wish to be considered for the position of top candidate. She narrowly won the elections from Lagendijk. This came as a great surprise to all. Especially for Buitenweg who had not written an acceptance speech and read out Lagendijk's. In May 2005, MP Farah Karimi wrote

801-411: A new lead candidate for the 2009 European elections . There were five candidates for this position: Amsterdam city councillor Judith Sargentini , former MEP Alexander de Roo , senator Tineke Strik , environmental researcher Bas Eickhout and Niels van den Berge assistant of MEP Buitenweg. In an internal referendum Sargentini was elected. The party congress put Eickhout on a second position on

890-541: A peace force, with the functions of NATO to be taken over by the European Union and the United Nations. GroenLinks wants to solve environmental problems, especially climate change , by stimulating durable alternatives. The party wants to use taxes and emissions trading to stimulate alternative energy as an alternative to both fossil fuel and nuclear plants . It wants to close all nuclear plants in

979-566: A political talent who had left the Labour Party for GroenLinks in 1997. The party began to speculate openly about joining government after the elections of 2002. The 1999 Kosovo War divided the party internally. The parliamentary party in the House of Representatives supported the NATO intervention, while the Senate parliamentary party was against the intervention. Several former PSP members within

SECTION 10

#1732783826630

1068-671: A seat. In the 1984 European election , the PPR, CPN and PSP formed the Green Progressive Accord that entered as one into the European elections . They gained one seat, which rotated between the PSP and PPR. Party-members of the four parties also encountered each other in grassroots extraparliamentary protest against nuclear energy and nuclear weapons . More than 80% of the members of the PSP, CPN and PPR attended at least one of

1157-597: A single party. This, however, never materialised. Following the heavy defeat of the PvdA in the 2017 general election , in which the party went from 25 per cent to less than six per cent of the vote, discussions about a possible merger began to rise again. With this electoral demise, the left-of-centre political landscape in the Netherlands - including D66, GL, SP, the Party for the Animals (PvdD), Christian Union (CU), Volt Netherlands , DENK and BIJ1 - fragmented. In both

1246-483: Is able to stop working earlier than if one starts working when one is older. Receiving unemployment or disability benefits is counted as work, as is caring for children or family members. The system of mortgage interest deductions should be abolished over a forty-year period. International cooperation is an important theme for the party. This includes development cooperation with underdeveloped countries. GroenLinks wants to increase spending on development aid to 0.8% of

1335-519: Is an undogmatic party. The election manifesto for the 2010 elections was adopted in April of that year. It was titled Klaar voor de Toekomst ("Prepared for the Future"). The manifesto emphasises international cooperation, welfare state reform, environmental policy and social tolerance. GroenLinks considers itself a " social reform party", which aims to reform the government finances and increase

1424-665: Is critical about the current policies of the European Commission . It favoured the European Constitution , but after it was voted down in the 2005 referendum , GroenLinks advocated a new treaty which emphasised democracy and subsidiarity . The party is critical about the war on terror . It wants to strengthen the peacekeeping powers of the United Nations and reform the Dutch armed forces into

1513-510: Is not a new idea. As early as 2004, Job Cohen , then mayor of Amsterdam and later PvdA national leader, called for a merger of the PvdA, GL and Socialist Party (SP), suggesting "Progressive People's Party" as possible name. That name refers to an even earlier proposal with the same name that was discussed in the 1970s of the PvdA, Democrats 66 (D66) and the Political Party of Radicals (PPR), one of GL's forerunners, to merge into

1602-456: Is the freedom of citizens from government influence; she applies this concept especially to the multicultural society and the rechtsstaat , where the government should protect the rights of citizens and not limit them. Positive freedom is the emancipation of citizens from poverty and discrimination. Halsema wants to apply this concept to welfare state and the environment where government should take more action. According to Halsema, GroenLinks

1691-411: The 1972 general election , these parties won sixteen seats (out of 150); in the 1977 general election , they only won six. From that moment on, members and voters began to argue for close cooperation. From the 1980s onwards, the four parties started to cooperate in municipal and provincial elections. As fewer seats are available in these representations, a higher percentage of votes is required to gain

1780-454: The 1989 elections , the PPR, PSP, CPN and EVP entered in the elections with one single list called Groen Links. In the Netherlands, parties usually participate in the elections with one list for the whole country. The candidates on top of the list get the priority for the distribution of seats won. The GroenLinks list of candidates was organised in such a way that all the parties were represented and new figures could enter. The PPR, which had been

1869-528: The 2006 Dutch municipal election , the party stayed relatively stable, losing only a few seats. After the elections GroenLinks took part in 75 local executives, including Amsterdam where MP Marijke Vos became an alderwoman. In preparation of the 2006 general election the party held a congress in October. It elected Halsema, again the only candidate, as the party's top candidate. MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg and comedian Vincent Bijlo were last candidates . In

SECTION 20

#1732783826630

1958-469: The 2012 and 2003 general elections when voters from other left-leaning parties flocked to the Labour Party. When the PvdA and GL received a disappointing election result in the 2021 general election (5.7 per cent and 5.0 per cent respectively), calls for a merger increased. In the first week after the elections, members from both parties founded the movement Red-Green ( Dutch : Rood-Groen ) led by Frank van de Wolde calling for more cooperation between

2047-541: The 2017 general election . The party entered coalition talks with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy , the Christian Democratic Appeal and Democrats 66 , but the talks failed after Klaver demanded more refugees to be accepted. GroenLinks lost the 2021 general election , and combined with the Labour Party during the subsequent government formation . There have been discussions about

2136-587: The 2021–2022 Dutch cabinet formation , whereas local alliances between the two parties had already been formed in prior years. The two parties formed a joint parliamentary group in the Provincial Council of Zeeland in 29 March 2023, then formed a joint group in the Senate following the 2023 Dutch Senate election , and formed a joint group in the House of Representatives on 27 October 2023. Following

2225-407: The 2022 municipal elections , the two parties participated with a joint list in 50 local municipalities. In addition, they had formed electoral alliances ( Dutch : lijstverbindingen ) in multiple national elections, such as the 2009 European Parliament election and the 2010 general election . The idea of a possible merger of centre-left parties in the Netherlands, including the PvdA and GL,

2314-456: The 2023 Dutch general election , to be held on 22 November, with a joint electoral list and lead candidate . From 10 to 17 July 2023, both parties held an internal referendum on this proposal. Approximately 88% of PvdA members and 92% of GL members voted in favour of participating in the election with a joint GL/PvdA list. Three days later, former foreign minister Frans Timmermans (PvdA) declared his intention to become lead candidate for

2403-464: The Communist Party of the Netherlands from the socialist and communist traditions. Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, the parties had come to embrace environmentalism and feminism ; they all favoured democratisation of society and had opposed the creation of new nuclear plants and the placement of new nuclear weapons in the Netherlands . Halsema, the former political leader of

2492-531: The Constitution . GroenLinks values individual freedom and the rule of law . The party wants to legalise soft drugs . It wants to protect civil rights on the Internet by extending constitutional protection for free communication to email and other modern technologies. It also favours a reform of copyright to allow non-commercial reproduction and the use of open-source software in the public sector. In

2581-581: The Netherlands , the GroenLinks party was formed in 1989 by a merger of a communist , pacifist , left-wing Christian and green parties. In December 2007, an Italian electoral coalition of the radical left was formed known as The Left – The Rainbow , comprising Federation of the Greens , two communist parties and a small democratic socialist party. The green left has also been prominent in

2670-637: The Rainbow . Joost Lagendijk and Leo Platvoet , both PSP party board members, initiated an internal referendum in which the members of the PSP declared to support leftwing cooperation (70% in favour; 64% of all members voting). Their initiative for left-wing cooperation was supported by an open letter from influential members of trade unions (such as Paul Rosenmöller and Karin Adelmund ), of environmental movements (e.g., Jacqueline Cramer ) and from arts (such as Rudi van Dantzig ). This letter called for

2759-477: The green politics outside of Europe, especially in the United States , Australia and New Zealand . This article about politics is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . GroenLinks GroenLinks ( Dutch pronunciation: [ɣrunˈlɪŋks] , lit.   ' GreenLeft ' ) is a green political party in the Netherlands . It was formed on 1 March 1989 from

Green left - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-634: The gross national product . It wants to open the European markets to goods from Third World countries, under conditions of fair trade . In order to ensure free and fair trade, it wants to increase and democratise international economic organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank . The party also favours greater international control over financial markets. GroenLinks favours European integration , but

2937-453: The principles of her party . She emphasised individual freedom, tolerance , self-realisation and emancipation . In one interview she called her party "the last liberal party of the Netherlands" This led to considerable attention of media and other observers, which speculated about an ideological change. In 2005 the party's scientific bureau published the book "Vrijheid als Ideaal" ("Freedom as Ideal") in which prominent opinion-makers explored

3026-420: The vmbo (middle-level vocational education). In order to ensure that migrants have a better chance for jobs, it wants to deal firmly with discrimination, especially on the labour market . The party wants to decrease income differences by making child benefits . The party favours reform of government pensions : after 45 years of employment, one should get the right to a pension. If one starts working young, one

3115-402: The 1990 municipal elections, the party fared much better, strengthening the resolve to cooperate. In the period 1989–1991, the merger developed further. A board was organised for the party-in-foundation and also a 'GroenLinks Council', which was supposed to control the board and the parliamentary party and stimulate the process of merger. In this council, all five groups – CPN, PPR, PSP, EVP and

3204-474: The 1998 elections. Before the 2003 general election Rosenmöller left parliament, citing the ongoing threats against his life and those of his family as the main reason. He was replaced as chair of the parliamentary party and top candidate by Femke Halsema . She was unable to keep ten seats and lost two. In 2003, GroenLinks almost unanimously turned against the Iraq War . It took part in the protests against

3293-500: The 2006 elections the party lost one seat. In the subsequent cabinet formation , an initial exploratory round among the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Labour Party (PvdA) and Socialist Party (SP) failed, Halsema announced that GroenLinks would not be involved in further discussion at that point in time, as the party lost, was too small, and had less in common with CDA than the SP had. Following this decision an internal debate about

3382-416: The 2017 and 2021 general elections, there was no left-leaning party big enough to be the main contender to Prime Minister Mark Rutte 's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from the left. Many left-leaning voters in the Netherlands have a habit of voting tactically for the largest left-leaning force in an attempt to prevent a right-leaning party from becoming the largest party. Examples of this are

3471-458: The CPN, the PSP and the PPR about a common list for the upcoming general elections. It soon became clear that the CPN wanted to maintain an independent communist identity and not merge into a new left-wing formation. This was reason for the PPR leaving the talks. Negotiations about cooperation were reopened after the fall of the second Lubbers cabinet and the announcement that elections would be held in

3560-536: The European Parliament after two-and-a-half years to make room for a new candidate. He would continue as an independent and remain in parliament until 1994. In the 1994 European elections , he would run unsuccessfully as top candidate of The Greens . In 1992, party leader Ria Beckers left the House of Representatives because she wanted more private time. Peter Lankhorst replaced her as chair ad interim, but he announced that he would not take part in

3649-473: The Future"). The party places itself in the freedom-loving tradition of the left. Its principles include: The party's principles reflect the ideological convergence between the four founding parties which came from different ideological traditions: the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party , from a progressive Christian tradition; and the Pacifist Socialist Party and

Green left - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-453: The House of Representatives parliamentary party began to openly speak out their doubts about the intervention. A compromise was found: GroenLinks would support the intervention as long as it limited itself to military targets. Prominent members of the founding parties including Marcus Bakker and Joop Vogt left the party over this issue. In February 2001, Roel van Duijn and a few former members of The Greens joined GroenLinks. In 2001,

3827-460: The Ministry of Economic Affairs in order to steal plans for nuclear power plants. This led to his resignation on 14 August, after media reported that the burglary also led to threats against civil servants . He was replaced by Jolande Sap . In 2008, MEPs Joost Lagendijk and Kathalijne Buitenweg announced that they would not seek a new term in the European Parliament. The party had to elect

3916-588: The Netherlands and impose a tax on the use of coal in energy production, in order to discourage the building of new coal-based power plants. Moreover, it wants to stimulate energy saving . It wants to invest in clean public transport , as an alternative to private transport. Investments in public transport can be financed by not expanding highways and imposing tolls on the use of roads (called rekeningrijden ). The party wants to stimulate organic farming through taxes as an alternative to industrial agriculture . Moreover, GroenLinks wants to codify animal rights in

4005-481: The PPR and member of the Senate ), Herman Meijer (former CPN, future chair of the party) and Ineke van Gent (former PSP and future MP). Some candidates ran in duos because they wanted to combine family life with politics. Brouwer, Rosenmöller and Sipkes already were MPs for GroenLinks, whilst Rabbae was new – he had been chair of the Dutch Centre for Foreigners. In the first round, the duos ended up ahead of

4094-459: The PPR to found The Greens . The CPN and the PPR wanted to form an electoral alliance with the PSP for the 1986 elections. This led to a crisis within the PSP, in which chair of the parliamentary party ( Fractievoorzitter ) Fred van der Spek , who opposed cooperation, was replaced by Andrée van Es , who favoured cooperation. Van der Spek left the PSP to found his own Party for Socialism and Disarmament . The 1986 PSP congress , however, rejected

4183-462: The PvdA and GL, and referred to the alliance as a 'left-wing cloud' ( Dutch : linkse wolk ). Following their exclusion from the fourth Rutte cabinet , the Labour Party and GroenLinks decided to intensify co-operation as opposition parties . The PvdA and GL participated in the 2023 provincial elections separately, but formed a joint list in Zeeland . After the 2023 Senate election , in which

4272-529: The PvdA and the CDA. The increasingly close cooperation between PPR, PSP, CPN and EVP, and the ideological change that accompanied it was not without internal dissent within the parties. The ideological change that CPN made from official communism to ' reformism ' led to a split in the CPN; and the subsequent founding of the League of Communists in the Netherlands in 1982. In 1983, a group of "deep" Greens split from

4361-799: The Vereniging Groen Links – had seats on ratio of the number of their members. Originally, the three youth organisations, the CPN-linked General Dutch Youth League , the PSP-linked Pacifist Socialist Young Working Groups and the PPR-linked Political Party of Radical Youth refused to merge, but under pressure of the government (who controlled their subsidies) they did merge to form DWARS . In 1990, some opposition formed against

4450-437: The alliance. His candidacy was met with widespread approval from both parties. On 22 August 2023, during a joint GroenLinks–PvdA party meeting, Timmermans was confirmed as lead candidate with 92 percent of the vote. He resigned from his posts at the European Commission on the same day. PvdA–GL finished the election with 25 seats and 15.75% of the vote, finishing second to the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) but ahead of

4539-424: The association GroenLinks (Dutch: Vereniging GroenLinks ; VGL) was set up to allow sympathisers, not member of any of the four parties to join. Meanwhile, the European elections of 1989 were held, in which the same group of parties had entered as a single list under the name " Rainbow ". In practice, the merger of the parties had now happened and the party GroenLinks was officially founded on 24 November 1990. In

SECTION 50

#1732783826630

4628-486: The attempt to write the first manifesto of principles failed because of the difference between socialists and communists on the one side and the more liberal former PPR members on the other side. The second manifesto of principles – which was not allowed to be called that – was adopted after a lengthy debate and many amendments in 1991. Although the party was internally divided, the GroenLinks parliamentary party

4717-503: The autumn of that year. This time the EVP was included in the discussion. The PPR was represented for a short while by an informal delegation led by former chair Wim de Boer , because the party board did not want to be seen re-entering the negotiations it had left only a short while earlier. In the summer of 1989, the party congresses of all four parties accepted to enter the elections with a shared programme and list of candidates. Additionally,

4806-597: The collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet in July 2023, the leaders of PvdA ( Attje Kuiken ) and GL (Jesse Klaver) announced their intention to contest the 2023 Dutch general election as an alliance. Members of both PvdA and GroenLinks voted in favour of the proposal, and confirmed Frans Timmermans as lead candidate in August. Prior to the formation of a national alliance, the Labour Party (PvdA) and GroenLinks (GL) had already formed local alliances in some municipalities; in

4895-566: The election and participated in the formation talks of a Green/ Purple government . Halsema resigned as party leader when these talks failed and was succeeded by Jolande Sap . In the 2012 general election , GroenLinks lost six seats and was left with four out of 150 seats. Following the disappointing result, Sap was forced to resign as party leader and was succeeded by Bram van Ojik , who in turn handed his position to Jesse Klaver in 2015. Under Klaver's leadership, GroenLinks gradually rose in polls before climbing to an all-time high of 14 seats in

4984-406: The electoral alliance. In the 1986 general election , all four parties lost seats. The CPN and the EVP disappeared from parliament. The PPR was left with two and the PSP with one seat. While the parties were preparing to enter in the 1990 elections separately, the pressure to cooperate increased. In 1989, the PPR, CPN and PSP entered the 1989 European Parliament election with a single list, called

5073-437: The formation of a single progressive party to the left of the Labour Party . Lagendijk and Platvoet had been taking part in informal meetings between prominent PSP, PPR and CPN-members, who favoured cooperation. Other participants were PPR chairman Bram van Ojik and former CPN leader Ina Brouwer . These talks were called "F.C. Sittardia" or Cliché bv. In the spring of 1989, the PSP party board initiated formal talks between

5162-406: The governing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). The coalition hoped to form a government with New Social Contract and other, smaller parties like the Party for the Animals (PvdD). Timmermans ruled out forming a government with PVV and VVD, and admitted that it was "extremely unlikely" that PvdA-GL would be in cabinet. There has been an ongoing discussion about a possible merger of

5251-438: The green left arose partly out of the declining Eurocommunist tendency that has been mostly associated with various communist parties in the continent. As a result, many former communist parties and remnants of communist parties were either reestablished or fused into existing green parties . Far-left political parties or joint electoral lists have been formed over the years, most often between Marxist and radical greens. In

5340-491: The income requirements for marriage migration. GroenLinks%E2%80%93PvdA GroenLinks–PvdA ( Dutch: [ɣrunˈlɪŋks ˌpeːveːdeːˈjaː] ), alternatively PvdA–GroenLinks , or GreenLeft–Labour in English, is an alliance between GroenLinks (GL) and the Labour Party (PvdA) in the Netherlands. The political alliance was founded at the national level by party leaders Lilianne Ploumen and Jesse Klaver during

5429-552: The integrity of former MP Tara Singh Varma came into doubt: it was revealed that she had lied about her illness and that she had made promises to development organisations which she did not fulfill. In 2000, she had left parliament because as she claimed, she had only a few months to live before she would die of cancer. The TROS program "Opgelicht" (In English "Framed") revealed that she had lied and that she did not have cancer. Later, she apologised on public television and claimed she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder . In

SECTION 60

#1732783826630

5518-415: The internal elections. Before the general election of 1994 , GroenLinks organised an internal election on the party's political leadership. Two duos entered: Ina Brouwer (former CPN) combined with Mohammed Rabbae (independent), while Paul Rosenmöller (independent) formed a combination with Leoni Sipkes (former PSP); there were also five individual candidates, including Wim de Boer (former chair of

5607-439: The largest party in 1986 got the top candidate (the lead candidate , Ria Beckers ) and the number five; the PSP got the numbers two and six, the CPN the number three and the EVP number eleven. The first independent candidate was Paul Rosenmöller , trade unionist from Rotterdam, on the fourth place. In the elections, the party doubled its seats in comparison to 1986 (from three to six), but the expectations had been much higher. In

5696-529: The list. On 18 April 2010, the party congress composed the list of candidates for the 2010 general election . Two sitting MPs Ineke van Gent and Femke Halsema were granted dispensation to stand for a fourth term. Halsema was re-elected as party leader. Van Gent was put as fifth on the party list. All of the first five candidates were sitting MPs and four were women. Their other high newcomers were former Greenpeace director Liesbeth van Tongeren and chairman of CNV youth Jesse Klaver . The party won 10 seats in

5785-416: The long term, it seeks to abolish the monarchy and create a republic . It also favours a reduction of the size of the government bureaucracy, for instance by decreasing the number of Dutch ministries and abolishing the Senate . Finally, GroenLinks favours liberal immigration and asylum policies. It wants to empower victims of human trafficking by giving them a residence permit and it wants to abolish

5874-577: The members of the Senate were elected by the members of the provincial councils and electoral colleges , the two parties formed a joint group in the senate. With fourteen seats, the PvdA–GroenLinks group became the second-largest senate group behind the Farmer–Citizen Movement . Following the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet on 7 July 2023, PvdA leader Attje Kuiken and GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver announced their intention to contest

5963-406: The merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands , the Pacifist Socialist Party , the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party , which shared left-wing and progressive ideals and had previously co-operated in the Rainbow coalition for the 1989 European Parliament election . After disappointing results in the 1989 and 1994 general elections ,

6052-656: The moderate, green course of GroenLinks. Several former PSP members united in the "Left Forum" in 1992 – they would leave the party to join former PSP-leader Van der Spek to found the PSP'92 . Similarly, former members of the CPN joined the League of Communists in the Netherlands to found the New Communist Party in the same year. In 1991, the congresses of the four founding parties (PSP, PPR, CPN and EVP) decided to officially abolish their parties. GroenLinks had considerable problems formulating its own ideology. In 1990,

6141-478: The nascent party fared particularly well in the 1998 and 2002 elections under the leadership of Paul Rosenmöller , who came to be seen as the unofficial Leader of the Opposition against the first Kok cabinet , a purple government . The party's number of seats fell from 10 to 4 seats in the 2012 election , before increasing to 14 in 2017 and falling back to 8 in 2021 . After the 2021 general election,

6230-541: The new political space and the position of the left within that space. During the congress of February 2007 the party board was ordered to organise a party-wide discussion about the party's principles. During the European Elections congress of 2004, the candidacy committee proposed that the chair of the GroenLinks delegation, Joost Lagendijk , should become the party's lead candidate in those elections. A group of members, led by Senator Leo Platvoet submitted

6319-424: The others, but neither had an absolute majority . A second round was needed, in which Brouwer and Rabbae won with 51%. Brouwer became the first candidate and Rabbae second, the second duo Rosenmöller and Sipkes occupied the following place followed by Marijke Vos , former chair of the party. The idea of a dual lead candidacy did not communicate well to the voters. GroenLinks lost one seat, leaving only five. Yet in

6408-419: The parliamentary party changed its position: the attacks should be cancelled. The 2002 general election was characterised by changes in the political climate. The right-wing populist political commentator Pim Fortuyn entered into politics. He had an anti-establishment message, combined with a call for restrictions on immigration . Although his critique was oriented at the second Kok cabinet , Rosenmöller

6497-479: The party board has set up a commission led by former MP and chair of the PPR Bram van Ojik . They looked into the lost series of elections. In the summer of 2007 another committee was formed to organise a larger debate about the course of the party's principles, organisation and strategy. Van Ojik also led this committee. The committee implemented a motion already adopted by the party's congress in 2006 to re-evaluate

6586-761: The party does not want to defend the current welfare state – which the party calls "powerless", because it merely offers the worst-off a benefit rather than prospects for work. The party wants to reform the Dutch welfare state so it will benefit "outsiders" – those who have been excluded from the welfare state until now. To increase employment, the GroenLinks proposes a participation contract, where unemployment recipients sign an agreement with their local council to become involved in volunteer work, schooling, or work experience projects – for which they get paid minimum wage. The unemployment benefit should be increased and limited to one year. In this period, people would have to look for

6675-422: The party intensified cooperation with the Labour Party (PvdA) in an alliance called GroenLinks–PvdA . The two parties participated in the 2023 general election with a joint candidate list, and currently have a joint parliamentary group of 25 seats. Despite the fact that the two participate separately participate in a European Political Group, Groenlinks as a member of Greens–European Free Alliance and PvdA as

6764-410: The party's principle in light of the party's course started by Halsema in 2004. Over the course of 2007 and 2008 the committee organised an internal debate about the party's principles, organisation and strategy. In November 2008 this led to the adoption of a new manifesto of principles. In August 2008, GroenLinks parliamentarian Wijnand Duyvendak published a book in which he admitted to a burglary of

6853-449: The party, has started a debate about the ideological course of GroenLinks. She emphasised the freedom-loving tradition of the left and chose freedom as a key value. Her course is called left-liberal by herself and observers, although Halsema herself claims that she does not want to force an ideological change. Following Isaiah Berlin , Halsema distinguishes between positive and negative freedom . According to Halsema, negative freedom

6942-470: The party, or at least so the party board claimed. When Pormes refused to step down, the party board threatened to expel him. Pormes fought this decision. The party council of March 2006 sided with Pormes. Party chair Herman Meijer felt forced to resign. He was succeeded by Henk Nijhof who was chosen by the party council in May 2006. In November 2006 Pormes left the Senate, he was replaced by Goos Minderman . In

7031-510: The political course and the leadership of Halsema re-erupted. The debate does not just concern the series of lost elections and the decision not to participate in the formation talks, but also the elitist image of the party, the new liberal course, initiated by Halsema, and the lack of party democracy. Since the last weeks of January 2007 several prominent party members have voiced their doubts including former leader Ina Brouwer , Senator Leo Platvoet and MEP Joost Lagendijk . In reaction to this

7120-408: The position of "outsiders" on the labour market, such as migrant youth, single parents, workers with short term-contracts and people with disabilities. It disagrees with the parties on the right which, in the eyes of GroenLinks, were only oriented towards cutting costs and did not offer the worst-off a chance for work, emancipation and participation. But, unlike the other opposition parties of the left,

7209-420: The same election, the centre-left Labour Party also lost a lot of seats. After the disappointing elections, Brouwer left parliament. She was replaced as party leader by Paul Rosenmöller and her seat was taken by Tara Singh Varma . The charismatic Rosenmöller became the "unofficial leader" of the opposition against the first Kok cabinet because the largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Appeal ,

7298-434: The same year, the parliamentary party supported the invasion of Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of September 11 . This invasion led to great upheaval within the party. Several former PSP members within the House of Representatives parliamentary party began to openly speak out their doubts about the intervention. Under pressure of internal opposition, led by former PSP members and the party's youth organisation DWARS ,

7387-417: The two mass protests against the placement of nuclear weapons , which took place in 1981 and 1983. The Evangelical People's Party was a relatively new party, founded in 1981, as a splinter group from the Christian Democratic Appeal , the largest party of the Dutch centre-right . During its period in parliament, 1982–1986, it had trouble positioning itself between the small left parties (PSP, PPR and CPN),

7476-400: The two parties and an eventual merger. This movement has tabled motions in multiple party member meetings of both the PvdA and GL that pushed the parties towards a deeper cooperation. A list of these motions can be found below, together with the other membership votes. During the 2021–2022 cabinet formation , Lilianne Ploumen (PvdA) and Jesse Klaver (GL) indicated that they only wanted to join

7565-452: The two parties into a single party. Proponents – including former Labour Party leaders Job Cohen and Diederik Samsom and Labour Party prominent and former health minister Hedy d'Ancona , and GroenLinks prominents Bram van Ojik , Andrée van Es and Bas de Gaay Fortman – have shown support for a merger by becoming a member of each other's party. They have also founded the activist group 'RedGreen' ( Dutch : RoodGroen ) to advocate for

7654-468: The war , for instance by organising its party congress in Amsterdam at the day of the large demonstration, with an interval allowing its members to join the protest. At the end of 2003, Halsema temporarily left parliament to give birth to her twins . During her absence Marijke Vos took her place as chair of the parliamentary party. When she returned to parliament, Halsema started a discussion about

7743-439: Was one of the few politicians who could muster some resistance against his message. Days before the election, Fortuyn was assassinated . Ab Harrewijn, GroenLinks MP and candidate also died. Before and after the elections serious threats were made against Rosenmöller, his wife and his children. These events caused considerable stress for Rosenmöller. GroenLinks lost one seat in the election, although it had gained more votes than in

7832-468: Was the only party in the Dutch parliament which opposed the Gulf War . A debate within the party about the role military intervention led to a more-nuanced standpoint than the pacifism of some of its predecessors: GroenLinks would support peacekeeping missions as long as they were mandated by the United Nations . In the fall of 1990, MEP Verbeek announced that he would not, as he had promised, leave

7921-431: Was unable to adapt well to its new role as opposition party. Rosenmöller set out a new strategy: GroenLinks should offer alternatives instead of only rejecting the proposals made by the government. In the 1998 general election , GroenLinks more than doubled its seats to eleven. The charisma of "unofficial leader" Rosenmöller played an important role in this. Many new faces entered parliament, including Femke Halsema ,

#629370