Parliamentary election in the Netherlands 2006
The parliamentary elections in the Netherlands in 2006 ( Tweede Kamerverkiezingen ) took place on 22 November. The election was originally due to be held on Wednesday May 16, 2007, but was brought up one day to May 15 as the following Thursday was a public holiday. In the end, however, early elections became necessary in November 2006 when the small ruling party D66 withdrew from the Balkenende II cabinet at the end of June . After leaving, the coalition of CDA and VVD only had 71 of the 150 seats - and thus 5 seats too few for the required absolute majority of at least 76 members. Prime Minister Balkenende then offered his resignation, but was commissioned by the Queen to lead a minority government , the Cabinet Balkenende III . Although this government was able to secure voting majorities from small parties on a case-by-case basis, it was no longer intended from the outset to exhaust the full legislative period .
It was the third choice in four years. In the election campaign, two main camps appeared to oppose each other: the remaining governing parties CDA and VVD on the one hand and a left opposition consisting of PvdA, SP and GroenLinks. It soon became apparent, however, that both camps would not achieve an absolute majority, as a growing number of small parties could hope for entry into parliament. However, it was difficult to forecast their individual strengths, while the massive gains made by the socialists quickly became apparent. In the meantime, they even seemed to outperform the PvdA.
Voting procedure and distribution of seats
The election of the Second Chamber is carried out purely as a proportional representation without a blocking clause . To enter parliament, a party only has to overcome the kiesdeler's hurdle , which results from the total number of votes cast divided by the number of seats to be distributed (150) and is rounded at 0.67%. Each list is initially assigned as many mandates as the Kiesdeler is included in the total number of votes cast for it. The remaining seats are allocated according to the system van de grootste gemiddelden , which essentially corresponds to the Hagenbach-Bischoff procedure . Parties who do not reach the Kiesdeler are not taken into account in this distribution, even if they have entered into a list connection .
The seats are distributed among the candidates in the order of the list places. Voters, however, have the option of correcting the party's internal preselection and electing poorly placed applicants, as they can vote specifically for one person. As a rule, all individual votes only benefit the overall result of the list, but those who get into a position relevant to the allocation of seats with their personal voorkeur stems and at the same time exceed the voorkeurs drempel (25% of Kiesdelers ) can move past the better list places into parliament.
Parties and Spitzenkandidaten
24 parties ran in more than one of the 19 constituencies. The following were elected to parliament:
- Christen Democratisch Appèl , led by Jan Peter Balkenende
- ChristenUnie , led by André Rouvoet
- Democrats 66 , led by Alexander Pechtold
- GroenLinks , run by Femke Halsema
- Partij van de Arbeid , run by Wouter Bos
- Partij voor de Dieren , led by Marianne Thieme
- Partij voor de Vrijheid , formerly Groep Wilders , run by Geert Wilders
- Socialist party , led by Jan Marijektiven
- State-qualified Gereformeerde Partij , managed by Bas van der Vlies
- Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie , led by Mark Rutte
With the exception of the Partij voor de Dieren, which was able to enter parliament in this election, none of the small parties that had participated in the new elections in 2003 but had not made it through entered parliament. Instead, a number of new small parties ran for elections, but all of them failed.
Final result (with comparative values 2003)
| Political party | Abbreviation | 2006 | 2003 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| percent | Seats | percent | Seats | ||
| Christians Democratic Appèl | CDA | 26.6 | 41 | 28.6 | 44 |
| Partij van de Arbeid | PvdA | 21.2 | 33 | 27.3 | 42 |
| Socialist Partij | SP | 16.6 | 25th | 6.3 | 9 |
| Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie | VVD | 14.6 | 22nd | 17.9 | 28 |
| Partij voor de Vrijheid | PVV | 5.9 | 9 | - | - |
| GroenLinks | GL | 4.6 | 7th | 5.1 | 8th |
| ChristenUnie | CU | 4.0 | 6th | 2.1 | 3 |
| Democrats 66 | D66 | 2.0 | 3 | 4.1 | 6th |
| Partij voor de Dieren | PvdD | 1.8 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 |
| State-informed Gereformeerde Partij | SGP | 1.6 | 2 | 1.6 | 2 |
| EénNL | 0.6 | 0 | - | - | |
| Lijst 5 Fortuyn | Fortuyn | 0.2 | 0 | 5.7 | 8th |
| Verenigde Seniors Partij | VSP | 0.1 | 0 | - | - |
| Ad Bos Collectief | 0.1 | 0 | - | - | |
| Partij voor Nederland | PvN | 0.1 | 0 | - | - |
| Islam Democrats | ID | 0.0 | 0 | - | - |
| Nederland Transparant | 0.0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Groen Vrij Internet Partij | 0.0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Liberaal Democratische Partij | LibDem | 0.0 | 0 | - | - |
| Lijst 14 | 0.0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Continue Directe Democratie Partij | CDDP | 0.0 | 0 | - | - |
| LRVP-het Zeteltje | 0.0 | 0 | - | - | |
| Solid multicultural party | SMP | 0.0 | 0 | - | - |
| Tamara's Open Party | TOP | 0.0 | 0 | - | - |
| total | 150 | ||||
Individual results
The Kiesdeler was 65,591 votes in 2006. The voter turnout was 80.35% higher than in 2003. The peak was reached with 94.23% on the island of Schiermonnikoog .
Of the candidates on the VVD list, Minister Rita Verdonk received 620,555 voorkeurstemmen (for example: individual votes, you can tick a certain candidate on the respective list), a better individual result than the top candidate Mark Rutte (553,200); this was the first time that a lijsttrekker was relegated to second place. This was preceded by a battle vote on the chairmanship, which Rutte won just before Verdonk.
Fatma Koser Kaya (D66) is the only candidate in this election who was elected to parliament with the help of the single vote system, although her actual place on the list would not normally have earned her that. It received 34,564 votes, moving from sixth to second place.
The most modest result of all the lists entered was achieved by 'Tamara's Open Partij' with 144 votes, a single applicant who only ran for one of the 19 constituencies.
Effects of the election result / formation of a government
The coalition negotiations initially proved difficult on the basis of this result. The ruling Christian Democrats of Prime Minister Balkenende were still the strongest force after the election, but mathematically it was not enough to form a "grand" coalition with the PvdA. A third coalition partner was required. Initially in conversation were the socialists, who, as the actual winners, became the third strongest force, or the more middle-class Christian Union, which also emerged stronger from the election.
On November 25th, Queen Beatrix appointed Rein Jan Hoekstra (CDA), member of the State Council, as an informateur . His task was to sound out the possibilities for the creation of a sustainable governing coalition.
After initial talks with all faction leaders of the parties represented in the new parliament, Hoekstra declared on December 5th that he wanted to work towards a coalition of CDA, PvdA and SP. A week later, after more detailed consultations with Balkenende (CDA), Bos (PvdA) and Marijektiven (SP), he announced that he was no longer able to form a government with these three partners due to the excessive differences between Christian Democrats and Socialists hold.
After another round of talks with the parliamentary group representatives, Hoekstra proposed in his final report on December 19 that a coalition of CDA, PvdA and ChristenUnie be formed. At the same time, he recommended the former chairman of the Social and Economic Council, Herman Wijffels, as his successor, who then had the task of moderating the conclusion of a coalition agreement in concrete discussions with these three parties.
The new round of coalition negotiations began on January 3, 2007. On February 6, the parliamentary groups of the three parties involved approved the negotiated coalition agreement. Queen Beatrix appointed Jan Peter Balkenende on February 9 officially Formateur . He put together a cabinet in which the CDA holds 8 ministerial posts, the PvdA 6 and the ChristenUnie 2. The fourth cabinet, Balkenende , was sworn in by the Queen on February 22nd.
literature
- Joop JM van Holsteyn: The Dutch Parliamentary Elections of 2006. In: West European Politics. 30/2007, pp. 1139-1147.
- APM Lucardie: Twee in, dertien uit. Electoraal succes en falen van nieuwe partijen in 2006. In: Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen DNPP (Ed.): Jaarboek 2006. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2006, pp. 154–174 ( PDF; 135 KB )
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Verkiezingen. Historical uitslagen Tweede Kamer. 2006 Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek
- ↑ Tweede-Kamerverkiezingen - November 22nd, 2006 Nederlandse Verkiezingsuitslagen 1918-nu
Web links
- Website of the Dutch Electoral Commission
- Parliamentary election: A strange day in Holland , article by Horst Bacia in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , November 24, 2006
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