Politieke Partij radicals
The Politieke Partij Raduellen ( PPR ) was a Dutch party of the Christian Left, which existed from 1968 to 1991.
Originally a left-wing split from the Catholic People's Party (KVP), it saw itself as non-denominational and made a name for itself with the topics of environmental protection , world peace , development aid and poverty reduction. It took part in a single cabinet, 1973 to 1977. Its highest election result was the 4.8 percent of 1972, before and after it remained at under two percent.
In 1991, the PPR merged into the new GroenLinks party . The Green Left received between four and seven percent of the vote in elections, but has not yet participated in any government.
history
Background and foundation 1966–1968
In 1966 the coalition of the Katholieke Volkspartij , Partij van de Arbeid (Social Democrats) and Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (Protestants) fell apart. In the KVP there had been tensions between a right wing and an employee wing, which resulted in Schmelzer's night . The right wing had insisted on spending restrictions and (unintentionally) led to the overthrow of the CIP Prime Minister Jo Cals . As a result, the KVP entered into a coalition with two Protestant parties and the right-wing liberal People's Party for Vrijheid en Democratie .
In general, since 1967 there have been efforts with the Groep van Achttien in the three Christian parties (KVP, ARP, CHU) to work more closely together. A group of left-wing CIP members feared that in the future Christian and “progressive” politics would be mutually exclusive.
Four CIP parliamentarians left the CIP parliamentary group in 1968 and formed the Aarden Group until the 1971 elections : Jacques Aarden , Paul Janssen , Annie Kessel and Harry van Doorn . Jacques Aarden, Pieter Bogaers (a former minister) and Erik Jurgens subsequently founded the PPR. Aarden became the first party leader of the PPR in 1971, Bogaers became the first, Jurgens the second party leader.
The party founders dispensed with a religious component in their party name in order to signal openness to like-minded people with a different background. In fact, disappointed members of the ARP also converted. The party received support from various parts of the Catholic labor movement, for example the former chairman of the Catholic trade union KAB, Adrianus Cornelis de Bruijn , called on the workers of the KVP to leave their party and saw the PPR as a possible new home for them, for example.
Another advocate of the new party was Henri Faas , parliamentary editor of the daily newspaper de Volkskrant , which until 1968 belonged to the KAB or its successor NKV and was at the same time on the way from a Catholic to a left newspaper.
development
At the beginning of the 1970s, the PPR, with its clear stance on the North-South problem and its negative position towards NATO, was able to find support among the student movement . In the run-up to the parliamentary elections of 1971, the PPR entered into a loose alliance with the PvdA and the social-liberal party D66 ; the so-called Progressief Accord set up a shadow cabinet . Also Volkskrant -Parlamentsredakteur Faas, who had converted from the CIP for PPR, worked with the shadow cabinet in the electoral program. However, the PPR only won two seats in its first parliamentary election, and the alliance remained far from a majority. Bogaers had already returned to the KVP in 1970, as he could no longer identify with the party's complete detachment from its religious background. Despite this, the PPR later had two chairmen who were Catholic priests. In 1974 a former member of the left Provo movement , Roel van Duijn , became a member of the Amsterdam city government ( wethouder ) for the PPR.
In the new elections held in 1972, the radicals were able to achieve their best result with 4.8% of the vote and seven seats and participated in the government of the Social Democratic Prime Minister Joop den Uyl from 1973 to 1977 (PvdA, KVP, ARP, PPR, D66) . The PPR provided two ministers: Harry van Doorn (culture, leisure and recreation, social work) and Boy Trip (without portfolio, responsible for science policy).
However, this remained the only government participation of the PPR, which had serious consequences for the party. On the one hand, there was resentment in the PPR that during this time it was part of a coalition that included the KVP and ARP. On the other hand, the decision of the PPR not to form a coalition with these parties was not well received in the next election in 1977. Since then, the party has only been able to get between one and two percent of the voters behind it.
Way to GroenLinks since the 1980s
In the mid-1980s, the party broke away from its previous collaboration with the PvdA and D66 and turned to a new collaboration with the small parties EPP (left-Protestant), PSP (pacifist-socialist) and CPN (communist-feminist). After the worst election result to date in 1986, the former PPR parliamentary group leader Bas de Gaay Fortman expressed doubts about the party's right to exist, but remained loyal to it. Co-founder Jurgens, on the other hand, left the company in 1982 and joined the PvdA in 1986. In 1983 members of the Green Platform in the PPR had also left the party and, together with other local green parties, founded the new De Groenen party , which, however, could only gain significance at the local level.
In 1989, the PPR, EPP, PSP and CPN merged to form a joint list called Groen Links and ran with it in that year's elections, which achieved 4.1%. After the alliance was formed as a party at the end of 1990, the four parties finally gave up their independence and were fully integrated into the new party in the following year.
With two members of parliament, the PPR had brought in more electoral substance than the other three parties (the PSP had previously owned one). Tensions arose in GroenLinks between green and red; the communists and pacifist socialists, with all due attention to the environmental issue, were ultimately out to transform the economy.
organization
The PPR had its highest level of organization in 1977 with a good 13,000 members; this number fell to below 6,000 at the end of the 1980s. With the PPR-Jongeren it had a youth organization and since its foundation it published a monthly party newspaper called Radikalenkrant (from 1973 to 1981 PPRAK: PPR aktiekrant ).
Surname
The first part of the name, politieke partij (political party), was more technical in nature. This emphasized not just being radicals or the radicals of another party. They had entered the electoral register under the name Politike Partij Raduellen . Incidentally, there had already been a left-wing liberal party called Radicale Bond from 1892 to 1901 , which then became part of the Vrijzinnig Democratic Bond .
The term " radical " refers to a leftist current of liberalism. It has retained this importance in Romansh and Scandinavian countries in particular (see for example the Radical Socialists in France or Radical Venstre in Denmark). For the PPR, a name like alternatief (alternative) would have been more appropriate.
In Dutch, “radical” is usually written with c: radicaal (radical), de radicalen (the radicals). The more phonological spelling of words was then fashionable among leftists, compare socialisties instead of (properly) socialistic .
ideology
In its election manifesto of January 1971, the PPR was extremely skeptical about growth thinking. Both the poor in the Netherlands and in the Third World do not share in the benefits of growth. Therefore, the party declared its solidarity with the victims of what is known as a capitalist and exploitative system. She also addressed the housing shortage, minorities, world peace and environmental protection. She wanted to recognize the GDR and put the Netherlands' NATO membership up for discussion. The Netherlands should refrain from stationing NBC weapons.
The PPR was influenced by the ideas of the English economist EF Schumacher, who, under the title Small is beautiful in 1973, questioned growth thinking. Too much specialization and too large organizations are inefficient and lead to environmental pollution and undignified living conditions. In the course of the 1970s, the party abandoned its initial readiness for centralized solutions and instead called for small-scale solutions . As an example, she cited schools and hospitals that were too large and that had become inhuman.
Data
Election results
The results for the PPR in the elections to the Second Chamber were as follows.
| year | be right | percent | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 116.049 | 1.84% | 2 |
| 1972 | 354,829 | 4.80% | 7th |
| 1977 | 140.910 | 1.69% | 3 |
| 1981 | 171,042 | 1.97% | 3 |
| 1982 | 136,446 | 1.66% | 2 |
| 1986 | 115.203 | 1.26% | 2 |
Ministers and State Secretaries
All from 1973–1977 in the Den Uyl cabinet:
| Harry van Doorn | Minister for Culture, Leisure and Recreation, Social Work |
| Boy trip | Minister without Portfolio (Science Policy) |
| Michel van Hulten | State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport |
Party leader
| Pieter Bogaers | 1968 |
| Erik Jurgens | 1968-1970 |
| Jacques Tonnaer | 1970-1971 |
| Dolf Coppes | 1971-1973 |
| W. van Dam | 1973-1974 |
| Ria Beckers -de Bruijn | 1974-1976 |
| W. van Hoogevest | 1976-1977 |
| Herman Verbeek | 1977-1981 |
| Wim de Boer | 1981-1985 |
| Janeke van der Plaat | 1985-1988 |
| Bram van Ojik | 1988-1990 |
| Klaas-Wijbo van der Hoek | 1990-1991 |
Group leaders
| Jacques Aarden | 1968-1972 |
| Bas de Gaay Fortman | 1972-1977 |
| Ria Beckers-de Bruijn | 1977-1989 |
Membership numbers
Numbers according to DNPP:
| year | Member | year | Member |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 2,000 | 1979 | 12,325 |
| 1968 | 3,000 | 1980 | 11,500 |
| 1970 | 4,000 | 1981 | 10,567 |
| 1971 | 4,284 | 1982 | 10,063 |
| 1972 | 3,800 | 1983 | 10,063 |
| 1973 | 6,300 | 1984 | 8,305 |
| 1974 | 11,000 | 1985 | 7,848 |
| 1975 | 12,800 | 1986 | 6.151 |
| 1976 | 13,100 | 1987 | 5,901 |
| 1977 | 13,400 | 1988 | 5,785 |
| 1978 | 12,600 | 1989 | 5,823 |
literature
- Henk Waltmans: Niet bij rood alleen: Vijftien jaar Nederlandse Politiek en de Geschiedenis van de PRR (About the history of the PPR). Xeno-Uitgeverij 1983
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Jan van Putten: Politieke stromingen . 4th edition. Het Spectrum, Utrecht 1995 (1985), p. 214.
- ^ Portrait of De Bruijn. In: Biografisch Woordenboek van het Socialisme en de Arbeidersbewegung in Nederland (Dutch). Retrieved April 16, 2008.
- ^ Frank van Vree: De metamorfose van een dagblad - Een journalistieke geschiedenis van de Volkskrant , p. 97 ff. (Dutch).
- ^ Piet Hagen: Journalistiek in Nederland - Een persgeschiedenis in portretten , p. 461 (Dutch).
- ^ Jan van Putten: Politieke stromingen . 4th edition. Het Spectrum: Utrecht 1995 (1985), p. 361.
- ↑ Verkiezingprogram (PDF; 112 kB), accessed on April 2, 2010.
- ^ Jan van Putten: Politieke stromingen. 4th edition. Het Spectrum, Utrecht 1995 (1985), pp. 360/361.
- ↑ Results were taken from the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Dutch)
- ^ DNPP , accessed April 2, 2010.
- ↑ April 27, 1968
- ↑ End of 1968
- ↑ July 1971
- ↑ November 1972
- ↑ January 1973