Dutch municipal elections, 2014

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The Dutch municipal elections of 2014 were held on 19 March in most municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determines the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years.

Netherlands Constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Europe

The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.

Municipal council (Netherlands) elected assembly of a municipality in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands the municipal council is the elected assembly of the municipality. Its main role is laying down the guidelines for the policy of the council of mayor and aldermen and exercising control over its execution by the council of mayor and aldermen.

Contents

Background

Municipal elections are, unless exempted by an act of parliament, held every fourth year in the Netherlands as prescribed by the constitution. [1] The previous municipal elections were held on 3 March 2010, the elections were originally planned for 5 March 2014. Because this date coincided with Ash Wednesday, the elections were rescheduled to 19 March 2014. [2] The elections were held in all municipalities, except those that were amalgamated in 2013 and 2014 or were intended to amalgamate in 2015. Goeree-Overflakkee, Molenwaard and Schagen elected their councils late 2012; Alphen aan den Rijn, De Friese Meren, Heerenveen and Leeuwarden in November 2013; and 16 other municipalities will be involved in amalgamation and will have their elections in November 2014. There was some confusion among voters in these municipalities about these alternative dates. [3]

Constitution of the Netherlands constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is generally seen as directly derived from the one issued in 1815, constituting a constitutional monarchy; it is the third oldest constitution still in use worldwide.

Ash Wednesday First day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar

Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, even if it is not a holy day of obligation. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence before Easter. Ash Wednesday is traditionally observed by Western Christians, including Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Old Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, some Baptists, some Nazarenes, and most Latin Rite Roman Catholics.

A merger, consolidation or amalgamation, in a political or administrative sense, is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities, such as municipalities, counties, districts, etc., into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity.

In the 2010 elections, local parties got 24% of the vote, with national parties taking most of the remaining seats. Since then a general election was held in 2012 for the House of Representatives. In this election, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Labour Party won a combined 79 out of 150 seats and formed a coalition government. These municipal elections were the first elections in the Netherlands since the new cabinet was formed.

House of Representatives (Netherlands) lower house of the Netherlands

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. It has 150 seats which are filled through elections using a party-list proportional representation. It sits in the Binnenhof in The Hague.

Results

Local parties won 30% of the votes. The Christian Democratic Appeal became the largest party nationally, earning 14% of the votes. D66 and SP also saw significant rises compared to the 2010 elections, getting 12% and 7% respectively. VVD, although still ranked third nationwide, lost significantly compared to the 2010 elections, winning 12% of the votes. The undisputed loser of the elections, however, was the PvdA, getting 10% of the votes and losing its plurality in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.

Christian Democratic Appeal Dutch political party

The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CDA was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union, and has participated in all but three governments since then. Sybrand van Haersma Buma has been the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal since 18 May 2012.

Democrats 66 Dutch political party

Democrats 66 is a social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. Its name originates from the year in which it was founded.

Socialist Party (Netherlands) Dutch political party

The Socialist Party is a left-wing, democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands.

Party % Votes % Seats Seats
Local parties 29,7% 33,3% 2.807
Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA) 14,3% 17,7% 1.495
Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) 11,9% 12,7% 1.075
Democraten 66 (D66) 11,8% 9,6% 809
Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) 10,2% 9,5% 799
Socialistische Partij (SP) 6,5% 5,2% 443
combination ChristenUnie-Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (CU-SGP) 7,0% 7,8% 663
GroenLinks (GL) 5,2% 4,0% 335
Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) 0,2% 0,2% 16
Partij voor de Dieren (PvdD) 0,1% 0,1% 12
Total - 100,00%8.454

The election results in the largest cities are as following:

City VVD PvdA PVV CDA SP D66 GL Local Other
Amsterdam 6 10 - 1 6 14 6 1 0
Rotterdam 3 8 - 3 5 6 2 16 2
The Hague 4 6 7 3 2 8 2 10 0
Utrecht 5 5 - 3 4 13 9 3 3

Aftermath

Geert Wilders's speech after the elections was widely seen as controversial because he led a chant at a rally after municipal elections last week, asking supporters in The Hague: "Do you want more or fewer Moroccans in this city and in the Netherlands?" The crowd chanted: "Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!", to which Wilders responded: "We'll take care of that.". [4]

Geert Wilders Dutch politician

Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician who has been leader of the Party for Freedom since he founded it in 2006. Wilders is the parliamentary leader of his party in the House of Representatives. In the 2010 formation of the Rutte cabinet, a minority cabinet of VVD and CDA, he actively participated in the negotiations, resulting in a "support agreement" (gedoogakkoord) between the PVV and these parties, but withdrew his support in April 2012, citing disagreements with the cabinet on proposed budget cuts. Wilders is best known for his criticism of Islam; his views have made him a controversial figure in the Netherlands and abroad, and since 2004 he has been protected at all times by armed bodyguards.

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References

  1. Article 129 , Constitution of the Netherlands . Retrieved on 20 March 2014.
  2. (in Dutch) Gemeenteraden, Kiesraad. Retrieved on 19 March 2014.
  3. "Friezen bellen: waar blijft stempas?" [Frisians call: where is the voter card?] (in Dutch). NOS. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  4. Reuters Editorial (22 March 2014). "Dutch right-winger losing party members over anti-Moroccan chant". Reuters.