Reformed Political Party

Infobox Dutch_Political_Party
party_name = Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij
party_
party_wikicolourid = SGP
leader = Bas van der Vlies
partychair = Arie van Heteren
EKleader = Bas van der Vlies
TKleader = Gerrit Holdijk
EPleader = Hans Blokland
(of the ChristenUnie-SGP-delegation)
foundation = 1918
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ideology = Christian right [http://www.parties-and-elections.de/netherlands.html] ,
Orthodox Reformed
position = Right [Score 8.0/10 in 2003 Chapel Hill expert survey, see Hooghe et al. (2003) [http://www.unc.edu/%7Ehooghe/parties.htm Chapel Hill Survey] ]
PJO = SGPJ
WB = Guido de Brès-Stichting
europarl = Independence and Democracy
colours = Blue and Orange
headquarters = Ds. G.H. Kerstenhuis Laan van Meerdervoort 165 Den Haag
website = [http://www.sgp.nl www.sgp.nl] The Political Reformed Party (Dutch: "Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij", SGP) is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands, 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 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 party 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, he cooperated with the Nazi occupiers to allow his paper, the Banier to be printed and had condemned the resistance. Therefore after the war he was refused entry into the Tweede Kamer.

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 Eerste Kamer, 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 continues to lead the party. 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 subsidy, 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. [cite news |title=SGP will get subsidy after all |url=http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=46669 |publisher=Expatica |date=2007-12-05 |accessdate=2007-12-05]

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 were still limited to women.

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 [SGP 2003, p11] , 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. [SGP 2003, p16] The party is a strict defender of the separation between church and state [SGP 2003, p17] , 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. [Dölle 2005, p104] The SGP opposes freedom of religion, but advocates freedom of conscience instead, noting that "obedience to the law of God cannot be forced". [SGP 2003]

The SGP opposes feminism, and concludes, on Biblical grounds, that men and women are of equal value ("gelijkwaardig") but not equal ("gelijk"). [SGP 2003, p37] Men and women, so the party claims, have different places in society, with public life belonging in the male domain. [Davies 2006, p153] This belief led to restricting party membership to men only until 2006, when this restriction became subject to controversy [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4223376.stm|title=Party penalised for woman snub|publisher=BBC|date=2005-09-07|accessdate=2007-11-25] and was eventually removed. [Davies 2006]

Other

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 Second Chamber of Parliament "(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 wants to abolish female suffrage and has forbidden 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 , "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 more 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. :"* 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"

econd Chamber

Since the 2006 elections the party has two representatives in the lower house of parliament:
* Bas van der Vlies, fractievoorzitter
* Cees van der Staaij

First Chamber

Since the 2007 upper house elections the party has two representatives in the upper house:
* Gerrit Holdijk, fractievoorzitter
* Gerrit van der Berg

Municipal and provincial government

Provincial government

In provincial governments, the party participates in the Zeeland provincial executive. [cite web|url=http://kreeft.zeeland.nl/zeesterdoc/ZBI-O/ZEE/ZEE0/7009/700993_1.pdf|title=Nieuwe Verbindingen|publisher=Provincie Zeeland|author=College van Gedeputeerde Staten van Zeeland|accessdate=2007-10-14|language=Dutch|format=PDF] 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.

* 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 [cite web |url=http://www.minbzk.nl/onderwerpen/openbaar-bestuur/politieke/burgemeesters/benoemingen/landelijk-overzicht |accessdate=2007-10-14|publisher=Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs|language=Dutch|title=Landelijk overzicht burgemeestersposten] , 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 2004 European Parliament elections the party has one representative in the European Parliament. In the European elections, the SGP forms one parliamentary party with the ChristenUnie, called "ChristenUnie-SGP". It is part of the Independence and Democracy multinational party.
* Bastiaan 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.” [ "The Dynamics of Dutch Politics" by Robert C. Bone In: The Journal of Politics Vol. 24, No. 1 (Feb., 1962), p. 43] 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 First Chamber, Second Chamber, 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 it is 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, called testimonial 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 on female suffrage prevented the SGP joining this closer cooperation. In 2000 the GPV and RPF fused to form the ChristenUnie. The SGP and the CU still work together closely.

Notes

References

*cite journal
last=Davies
first=Gareth
year=2006
title=Thou Shalt Not Discriminate Against Women
journal=European Constitutional Law Review,
volume=2
pages=152–166
publisher=T.M.C.Asser Press
doi=101017/S1574019606001520
url=http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FECL%2FECL2_01%2FS1574019606001520a.pdf&code=3285bb48ab3f37b100828a47df480146
accessdate=2007-10-15
doi_brokendate = 2008-06-25
*cite book
first=prof. mr. drs. A.H.M.
last=Dölle
title=De SGP onder vuur
publisher=Centre for the Documentation of Dutch Political Parties (DNPP), part of the University of Groningen
year=2005
url=http://dnpp.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/root/jb-dnpp/jb05/Dolle.pdf
accessdate=2007-10-14
language=Dutch|format=PDF
*cite book
first=J
last=Hippe
title=Reformatorisch Staatkundig Verbond?
publisher=DNPP
year=1988
url=http://dnpp.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/root/jb-dnpp/jb88/hippe.pdf
accessdate=2007-10-14
language=Dutch
*cite book
title= Verkiezingsprogramma 2006-2011 - Naar eer en geweten
year=2006
author=Reformed Political Party (SGP)
url=http://www.sgp.nl/Media/download/4843/Verkiezingsprogramma%2520SGP%25202006-2011-web.pdf
accessdate=2007-10-14
language=Dutch|format=PDF
*cite book
title=Toelichting op het Program van Beginselen van de Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij
year=2003
origyear=1996
author=Reformed Political Party (SGP)
url=http://www.parlement.com/9291000/modules/g3gdlexb?layout=print
accessdate=2007-10-14
isbn=9072164105
language=Dutch
*cite web
url=http://www.nlverkiezingen.com/index_en.html
author=NLverkiezingen.com
title=Dutch elections
language=English
accessdate=2007-10-14
*cite web
url=http://www.parlement.com/9291000/modulesf/gvnl5who
title=Nacht van Kersten
language=Dutch
author=Parlementair Documentatie Centrum
publisher=Parlement.com
accessdate=2007-11-25
*cite web
url=http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/00685
title=G.H. Kersten
language=Dutch
author=Parlementair Documentatie Centrum
publisher=Parlement.com
accessdate=2007-11-25
*cite web
url=http://www.parlement.com/9291000/modulesf/g3dplvud
title=Staatkundig-Gereformeerde Partij (SGP)
language=Dutch
author=Parlementair Documentatie Centrum
publisher=Parlement.com
accessdate=2007-11-25

External links

* [http://www.sgp.nl/ SGP website] (note: closed on Sundays)