Dutch election results make formation of government difficult

A few weeks before yesterday's elections for the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament (officially the Second Chamber of the General Estates) it had seemed as if the race for becoming the largest party was between the rightwing liberal VVD and the left wing populist Socialist Party. In those final weeks the leader of the Labour party (PvdA) performed better than the leader of the Socialist Party in televised debates though. Thus it soon became appearant that the race would be between VVD and PvdA and the media of course focussed on this as well.

The focus on the race between VVD and PvdA naturally made it much harder for smaller parties to compete. All of the gains the Socialist Party had made in the opinion polls were lost to the PvdA and the Greens that were already dwindeling in the polls because of a change in leadership, support for budget cuts and internal conflicts, also lost many votes to the PvdA. On the other side many who had previously voted for the centre right CDA or the right wing populist PVV decided to vote for the rightwing liberal VVD in order to prevent the PvdA from becoming the largest party and the left gaining the initiative.

This competition between VVD and PvdA has paradoxically led to the fact that because these parties have grown at the expense of possible coalition partners, they will probably have to form a government together. In the results as far as they are now known (a 100% of the votes is in, but the exact effects of combined lists still have to be calculated), the VVD has 41 seats out of 150 and the PvdA 39. This means that the two largest parties would have a majority in the Lower House together, but these two do not have a majority in the Upper House, which is elected indirectly (ie by members of the 12 Provincial Estates). In order to arrive at a majority in both Houses of Parliament VVD and PvdA might look for one or two other coalition partners. Their success in finding the right third or forth partner may also determine the succes of the entire formation process, as it will be difficult to reconcile the electoral platforms of VVD and PvdA. Likely candidates to join a coalition are the centre right CDA which has recently attempted to style itself more centrist and the social-liberal D66. Whereas a VVD-PvdA-CDA coalition would have a majority in both Houses, a VVD-PvdA-D66 coalition would require a forth party in order to reach a majority in the Upper House.

It is no yet known whether the CDA will be willing to join the government coalition as it was further decimated after an already poor result in the 2010 national elections. Once a party that participated in almost every government and was often the largest party, the CDA has declined due to internal conflicts over participation in the minority government with the VVD that was supported in parliament by the right wing populist PVV. CDA fell from 21 to 13 seats.

The ECPM member parties Christian Union and the Reformed Party (SGP) have done rather well considering the circumstances. The SGP even gained a seat and grew from 2 to 3 seats. In the 2010 elections the SGP had already been close to a third seat and it is quite an accomplishment to have gained it now, amidst the media flurry that focussed mainly on the two largest parties. The Christian Union remained stable at 5 seats, although the exit poll had indicated a loss of 1 seat.

Even though we can rejoice in the fact that the SGP gained a seat and the Christian Union remained stable, the loss of the CDA is very unfortunate. The CDA is a natural ally for CU and SGP in issues such as freedom of religion, freedom of education, freedom of association and in issues related to the family and medical ethics. Even if the CDA is less outspoken on these issues, they were often able to withhold a government from more radical steps by participating in government. Whether the CDA will participate in the next government and what will remain of their influence now they have been reduced numerically remains to be seen.

In any case the process of forming a government may take a long time. Some combinations of parties that seem unlikely at this point may still surface. In any case the eight ECPM member party representatives in the Dutch parliament will undoubtedly do the their utmost to maximize their influence. Please pray for them!

The full result is as follows:
VVD (right wing liberals) - 41
PvdA (social democrats) - 39
PVV (right wing populists) - 15
SP (left wing populists) - 15
CDA (liberal-conservatives) - 13
D66 (social-liberals) - 12
CU (christian democrats) - 5
GL (greens) - 3
SGP (christian conservatives) - 3
PvdD (animal rights) - 2
50+ (pensioners' interests) - 2

ECPYN calls on Belarusian authorities to respect rights of citizens

It is with grave concern, that ECPYN has taken notice of the violations of both political rights and basic human rights of its own citizens on the part of the Belarusian authorities. We call on the Belarusian authorities to set right its unjustified actions and to refrain from further violations. We call on the European Union and on all national governments to condemn the violations and to take appropriate actions to press the Belarusian authorities to make amends.

The violations of political and basic human rights of citizens on the part of the Belarusian authorities include:

- the use of excessive violence by the riot police against citizens who gathered peacefully in Independence Square in Minsk. Many people were beaten so severely, they were hospitalized, including even some minors and elderly.
- random arrest and detainment of peaceful protesters.
- intimidation of presidential candidates and other leaders of opposition parties and youth organisations on the part of the police and the secret service.
- undue expelling of students involved with political parties and youth organisations from their universities.
- unwarranted breaking and entering of the homes and offices of opposition leaders and activists.
- unwarranted confiscation of properties belonging to political parties and youth organisations.

We call on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners and detainees and to lift any other sanctions against opposition leaders and activists. We would like to mention specifically the detainment of Pavel Seviarynets and the house arrest of Vital Rimashevsky.

In light of the fact that the OSCE election observer mission deemed the elections to be short of accepted democratic standards and the elections can hence not be seen as free and fair, it can hardly be surprising that many citizens expressed their discontent by taking to the street. The excessive response to these protests by the authorities is unacceptable by any standard and certainly does not befit any government that would like to continue to cooperate with the European Union in the Eastern Partnership.

We therefore call on the European Union to suspend the participation of Belarus in its Eastern Partnership Programme indefinitely until the Belarusian authorities significantly improve the human and civil rights conditions, release the political prisoners and detainees and lift the sanctions against them. We also call on the European Union and national governments to enter into permanent dialogue with Belarusian opposition forces, youth organisations and NGO’s and to continuously monitor the political situation in Belarus, in order to be able to respond quickly to new violations.

Founding congress BCD

Official statement of BCD international committee

THE FOUNDING CONVENTION OF THE BELARUSIAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY TOOK PLACE ON OCTOBER 31 IN MINSK

In spite of the fact that the venue for the congress was provided only a day and a half before the event, the organizers managed to gather 311 delegates and app. 300 guests. Among the guests there were Stanislau Shushkevich, Viachaslau Siuchyk, Aliaksei Janukevich, Viktar Karnienka, Juras Hubarevich, Ales Lahviniets, Liudmila Hraznova, Ambassadors of United Kingdom and Hungary in Belarus, representatives of the diplomatic missions of the USA, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Lithuania, Latvia, delegates from Christian democratic parties of Norway, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Ukraine, representatives of the European Parliament, priests of different Christian churches.

The participants of the Congress were also greeted by the leader of Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Ronald Pofalla, the leader of the European Parliament delegation on Belarus affairs Jacek Protasievicz, Prime-Minister of Lithuania, Chairman of Christian Democratic party of Lithuania Homeland Union Andrius Kubilius, and also Christian democratic parties of Moldova, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Finland and Georgia.

The most important political decision was taken regarding participation of BCD in local elections in the year 2010 and presidential elections in the year 2011.

The delegates of the congress decided to support their party candidate for presidency, Vital Rymasheuski, and to form his initiative group. Vital Rymasheuski will be suggested as a single candidate from the Belarusian Pro-Independence Block, and he can withdraw his candidature to the advantage of another candidate in case the latter forms a bigger initiative group.

ATTEMPTS OF THE AUTHORITIES TO INTERVENE THE CONGRESS OF BCD

The delegates from Kobryn were stopped by the traffic police three times on their way to Minsk the night before October 31. The policemen checked the passport details of the BCD members. The delegates arrived to the Congress only in the morning.

Three cars from Babruisk were stopped on their way to the Congress as well. The whole delegation with Taisia Kabanchuk as a head was kept for more than an hour - the police checked the cars and the documents. In the end two women were fined for not wearing the safety belts in the back seat.

Two cars were stopped in Slutsk early in the morning on October 31. The first one, driven by the leader of the local BCD organization Viktar Dvurechanski, was soon released; the other was kept for several hours in the police department to check the passport details of the delegates. As a result the car with the Vice-Chairman of the Slutsk BCD organization Maksim Jurchankou was late to the Congress for several hours. The delegates arrived only to the second half of the congress.

The delegate to the Congress from Pinsk Paval Dzenisevich was stopped by the police at the local railway station after he bought a ticket to Minsk, and was kept for passport control until his train left. As soon as the last train which the delegate could possibly take to get to the Congress on time left, the policemen apologised to Dzenisevich and let him go.

The BCD member from Brest Aliaksandr K. was called for interrogation to the office of KGB. They demanded that he should withdrawal hissignature as a BCD founder. Moreover, KGB threatened that Aliaksandr and his girlfriend, who studies at the local University, would have problems.

On October 31 in the morning there was a picturesque view at the Kastrychnickaya square in Minsk (possible variant of location of the Congress). The members of BCD Mikalai Artsiuhou and Ales Ilkevich who came to the square reported on the following: 4 traffic police cars, riot police and police motorcycles rode around the square in a chain.

I never saw something like that in the center of Minsk. I think it is connected with the promise of the Minister of Internal Affairs Kuliashou to break up the BCD Congress in any case. It proves that the authorities wanted to interfere with the Congress and took certain actions towards it, but this wish was kept on a short leash due to the coming decision of the EU with regard to the sanctions, - stated the leader of BCD Paval Sieviarynets in his interview to the press-center of the Belarusian Christian Democracy.

Dutch elections for the European Parliament

Yesterday (June 4) the Dutch elected their 25 members of the European Parliament. Because of the votes in other member states, the official results will not be released until after June 7, but unofficial results after 92% of the votes have been counted were released on account of a Dutch law that forbids withholding information on election results from the public.

The winner of the elections was the right wing populist PVV (Party for Freedom) of Geert Wilders, it won 4 seats.

Another worrying development are the gains for the social-liberals of D66, that added 2 seats to the 1 it allready held.

There were severe losses for the liberal-conservative CDA (from 7 to 5) and especially the 'PvdA' Labour Party (from 7 to 3). The Socialist Party and the Christian Union - SGP held its two respective seats. Green Left also retained its two seats.

The liberals of the VVD lost 1 of their 4 seats, whereas they had been expected to loose 2. Both Geert Wilders of the PVV and Mark Rutte of the VVD argued that the loss for CDA and PvdA should imply changes in the course of the government. André Rouvoet and Peter van Dalen of the Christian Union party asserted that CU-SGP gained votes and voter share even though it participates in the government coalition.

There is still one seat left that may either go to the Party for Freedom or the Green Left.

Later today the remaining 8 percent of the results will be released and on Sunday the official result will be known, including information on candidates that may have been elected by preference votes.

Result after 92% of the vote:

CDA: 5 (7)
PVV: 4 (0)
PvdA: 3 (7)
VVD: 3 (4)
D66: 3 (1)
GL: 3 (2)*
SP: 2 (2)
CU: 2 (2)

* The third seat of the GreenLeft is uncertain, it may stil go to the PVV.

ECPYN Co-president elected Member of Lithuanian Parliament

Paulius Saudargas, co-president of the European Christian Political Youth Network was elected to the Lithuanian parliament (Seimas) last Sunday, October 12. Paulius who is a board member of the Lithuanian Christian Democrats (LKD) was a candidate on the list of the Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD).



The TS-LKD won the first round of the elections and is set to win the second round as well. In the first round 70 seats of the parliament are elected under proportional representation in a single district. In the second round, which is to take place October 26, the remaining 71 members of parliament will be elected in several districts under a first-past-the-post system.

The ECPYN secretariat congratulates Paulius Saudargas on behalf of ECPYN.
Read also the article on the ECPYN website.

See the Official notice of the Central Electoral Committee .

Related articles on the ECPYN website:

• EU voluntarily loses Christian values says Landsbergis


• Good local election results Lithuanian Christian Democrats


• Successful Summer School in Lithuania