Christian Democrats Unie

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The Christian Democrats Unie (CDU) was a Dutch party that existed from 1964 to 1982. It was economically and socially conservative and stood to the right of the then three major Christian parties.

history

Abraham Zeegers (1966)

The CDU was founded on November 19, 1964 in Utrecht by Jacques Beukeboom, Jan Janssen, Jan Smits, Co Verburg, Henk Walraven and Abraham Zeegers. In contrast to the left-wing Christian Christian-democratic Unie, which in 1946 merged with the SDAP and the Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond into the new party Partij van de Arbeid , the Christian-Democrats Unie was a conservative party. Their non-denominational orientation was unusual at the time - the major Dutch Christian parties were either Catholic ( Katholieke Volkspartij ) or Protestant ( Anti-Revolutionaire Partij and Christelijk Historische Unie ). The aim of the CDU was then also to overcome the party system that it regarded as outdated; another motive for founding it was its resistance to increasing interventions by the state. The German CDU , with which there were contacts, served as a model with its equally non-denominational and conservative character.

Smits, an entrepreneur from Waalwijk , became the first party chairman. He had initially belonged to the Catholic CIP and then ran as the lead candidate for the conservative Partij Economisch Appèl in the parliamentary elections of 1963, which, however, failed to make it into the Second Chamber of the States General . Most of the members of the CDU came from this party. The Christian Democrats Unie also received support from the Johannes Althusius Foundation , the journal Burgerrecht. Orgaan van het Comité Burgerrecht ter Bestrijding van Overmatige Overheidsdwang and from former members of the parties Boerenpartij , Nationale Unie and Katholiek Nationale Partij . Zeegers, a former member of the ARP and editor of the civil law , became the leading party ideologist and mouthpiece of the CDU.

In the provincial and municipal elections, the party was largely unsuccessful, it could not move into a single provincial parliament and only a few seats in local councils in the province of North Brabant . The CDU nevertheless saw this as an initial success and hoped for the final breakthrough in the national parliamentary elections of 1967. In November 1966 the party adopted the first statutes and a basic program. In terms of social economy, the CDU was very conservative - to a greater extent than the three major Christian parties. Three key issues were important to the party's political direction during its existence:

  • To create space for a particular initiative
  • Putting freedom and responsibility first
  • To emphasize the commandment to love one's neighbor

In contrast to its conservative basic orientation, the CDU advocated directly elected mayors and careful experiments with referendums. These were also demands of the left-liberal Democrats 66 , who were also running for the first time in parliamentary elections, but caused far more attention and ultimately proved to be significantly more successful than the CDU (from which they, apart from these demands, were politically remote).

The elections of 1967 were a failure for the CDU, with 0.66% the entry into the second chamber was narrowly missed, there were only a few hundred votes missing. Presumably for lack of money, she decided not to participate in any further national elections. The CDU disappeared from the public eye and went through a series of changes in leadership as well as internal party disputes. Zeegers and many other members left the CDU. In the 1970 provincial and municipal elections, a number of local council seats were obtained, most of which were retained in the 1974 municipal elections. These local successes were, however, overshadowed by reviving internal disputes, and again there were many changes in the party leadership. In 1976 a group around board member CW van de Wal left the CDU and founded the Nederlandse Christen Democrats .

The municipal elections of 1978 were catastrophic for the party, only a seat could be won in Kerkrade . The distinguishing feature from other Christian parties, the non-denominational character, was lost in 1980 with the merger of the KVP, ARP and CHU to form Christen Democratisch Appèl (CDA). Nevertheless, the party under Smits, who had taken over the party leadership for the third time in 1977, continued until 1982, but no longer attracted attention with any noteworthy activities. Talks with the Evangelische Progressieve Volkspartij (EPV) and the CDA group Niet bij brood alleen (Not from bread alone), in which a common electoral list was formed, were an exception . If the CDU was also conservative in matters such as abortion and euthanasia , it was critical of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy , so that there were overlaps with the groups mentioned. Niet bij brood alleen , however, found the CDU too far to the right, the electoral list did not come about in this form, instead the EPV and part of Niet bij brood alleen merged to form the Evangelical People's Party .

organization

The information on the number of members is contradictory. Jan de Bas gives about 500 members for 1967 and cites the edition of the daily Trouw of December 13, 1980, which gave about 1,000 members for this time. According to the Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis , however, the party claims to have 2,100 members in 1967, which after the split in 1976 fell to a maximum of 200 members.

With the CDU Post , the Christian Democrats Unie had their own party leaflet.

Election results ( Tweede Kamer ) of the CDU

year be right percent Seats
1967 45,335 0.66% 0

literature

  • Jan de Bas: De muis die even brulde - De Evangelische Volkspartij 1981–1991 , Kok: Kampen 1999, ISBN 90-435-0090-9 , pp. 87 and 357 (Dutch)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Dutch)
  2. ^ Based on the party portrait from the Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis
  3. ^ Entry on Johannes Jacobus Maria Smits at the Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis (Dutch)

Web links