17 March is election day for positions in the “Federal” Government. 150 seats make up this initial body of governance. A voter chooses their candidate from one of a whopping 34 parties. The first picture is the overview of the list of candidates and the parties.
Picture 2: Starting at the left-hand-side of the page of lists, introducing the largest parties.
1. V V D– [People’s party for Freedom and Democracy] a sort of old-time US RepublicanParty idea; big business, economics first. right wing. 2. P V V– [Freedom Party]. right wing. 3. C D A– [Christian Democrats]. Catholic from origin, center to right. 4. D 66– [Democrats] [founded by an intellectual journalist in 1966. 5. GROENLINK– [Green left] formed by 4 parties, the Communist party, Pacifist Socialist, Evangelicals People Party and Political Party of Radicals. 6. SP- [Socialist Party]. 7. P vd A– [Labour Party]. 8. ChristenUnie– [Christian Union] conservative on all opinions from A-Z. Sees every aspect of life through the lens of strict Christian belief. 9. PvdDieren– [Party for Animals]. Very much a green planet, take-care-of-earth-first-party. 10. 50plus. [you guessed it].
Picture 3: Smallest parties on the list: 26. OPRECT- [Honesty party]- smaller government, right wing. 27. JESUS LEEFT- [Jesus lives]. Everything that the name implies plus a call to exit the EU. 28 TROTS op NEDERLAND. [Netherlands Pride]. 29 U-Buntu Connected Front. [Honest Rights for citizens of African heritage]. 30. 32 DFP [The Party party] – strives for more creativity and positivity in politics. 34. Wij Zijn Nederland. [We are the Netherlands].
And there you have it… choices for the nearly 13 million voters on 17 March.
An opinion? A few of these groups could safely unite without diluting their ideas. However in a country that firmly believes in ‘Group-Think’, their political ideal is that even the dog-catcher can stand for his beliefs in a party of his making and garner votes.