Party for the Animals

Party for the Animals
Partij voor de Dieren
Abbreviation PvdD
Leader Marianne Thieme
Chairman Luuk Folkerts
Leader in the Senate Niko Koffeman
Leader in the House of Representatives Marianne Thieme
Founded October 2002 (2002-10)
Youth wing PINK!
Thinktank Nicolaas G. Pierson foundation
Ideology Animal liberation
Environmentalism[1]
Euroscepticism
Political position Left-wing
International affiliation Euro Animal 7
European Parliament group European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Colours      Green
Seats in the Senate
2 / 75
Seats in the House of Representatives
2 / 150
States-Provincial
18 / 570
Seats in the European Parliament
1 / 26
Website
www.partijvoordedieren.nl
www.partyfortheanimals.nl
www.pinkpolitiek.nl

The Party for the Animals (Dutch: Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare, though it claims not to be a single-issue party. The party does consider itself to be a testimonial party, which does not seek to gain political power, but only to testify to its beliefs and thereby influence other parties.[2]

Its chairwoman and political leader is Marianne Thieme.

At the moment the Party for the Animals holds 2 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 1 of the 75 seats in the Senate. In the House of Representatives Marianne Thieme and Esther Ouwehand represent the PvdD since November 30, 2006, whereas Niko Koffeman represents it in the Senate since June 12, 2007. In the 2014 European Parliament elections, the party gained a representative in the European Parliament, Anja Hazekamp.

History

The Party for the Animals was founded in October 2002 by Marianne Thieme, among others.

In the Dutch general election of 2003 it gained 50,000 votes (0.5%), but not a seat in the House of Representatives.

In the 2004 European Parliament election the party gained 153,000 votes (3.2%), three times as much as in the 2002 Dutch general election. Still the number of votes was not enough to obtain a seat in the European Parliament.

During the 2006 parliamentary elections it gained 179,988 votes (1.8%), enough for two seats in Dutch parliament. In the run-up to these elections the party was supported by several Dutch celebrities, such as writers Maarten 't Hart and Jan Wolkers.

In its first municipal council elections the party in 2010 gained one seat in every of the five places, where it participated.

In its third parliamentary elections, on June 9 in 2010, the PvdD retained its two seats in the House of Representatives with 122,317 votes (1.3%). In the 2012 general elections the party got 182,162 votes, an increase of 45%, but with just under 2% of the popular vote this did not secure a third seat in the House of Representatives.

Miscellaneous

The "PvdD" is the first political party in the world to gain parliamentary seats with an agenda focused primarily on animal rights.

One of the results that the PvdD claims to have reached during its first four-year parliamentary period is the fact that the government has declared that reduction of national meat consumption further on is one of its priorities.[3]

The Party for Animals welcomed its 10,000th member in late 2009.

Electoral results

Parliament

Election year # of
overall votes
% of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
+/– Notes
2003 47,754 0.5 (#10)
0 / 150
Steady 0 in opposition
2006 179,988 1.8 (#9)
2 / 150
Increase 2 in opposition
2010 122,317 1.3 (#10)
2 / 150
Steady 0 in opposition
2012 182,162 1.9 (#9)
2 / 150
Steady 0 in opposition

European Parliament

Election year # of
overall votes
% of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
+/–
2009 157,735 3.5 (#9)
0 / 25
2014 199,438 4.2 (#9)
1 / 26
Increase 1

Representation

Members of the House of Representatives

After the 2012 elections the party has two representatives in the House of Representatives:

Members of the Senate

After the 2015 Senate elections, the party has two representatives in the Senate:

Members of the European Parliament

After the 2014 European Parliament elections, the party has one representative in the European Parliament:

See also

References

  1. "Parties and Elections in Europe". Parties-and-elections.eu.
  2. "Vijf jaar Partij voor de Dieren in Nederlands parlement" (in Dutch). 2011-10-02. (note: testimonial party is 'getuigenispartij' in Dutch)
  3. "Interview". Nu.nl. Retrieved 2014-06-14.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Partij voor de Dieren.
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