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Socialist Party (Netherlands)

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"Socialistische Partij (Netherlands)" redirects here. For other uses, see Socialistische Partij (disambiguation).

The Socialist Party (Dutch: Socialistische Partij [soːɕaːˈlɪstisə pɑrˈtɛi]; SP [ɛsˈpeː]) is a democratic socialist and social democratic political party in the Netherlands.[16] Founded in 1971 as the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist–Leninist (KPN/ML, Dutch: Communistische Partij van Nederland/Marxistisch–Leninistisch), the party has since moderated itself from Marxism–Leninism and Maoism towards democratic socialism[4] and social democracy.[17][18][19]

Socialist Party
Socialistische Partij
AbbreviationSP
LeaderJimmy Dijk (list)
ChairmanJannie Visscher
SecretaryArnout Hoekstra
Leader in the SenateRik Janssen
Leader in the House of RepresentativesJimmy Dijk
Founded22 October 1971 (1971-10-22)
Split fromCommunist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (Marxist–Leninist)
HeadquartersDe Moed Partijbureau SP Snouckaertlaan 70, Amersfoort
Think tankScientific Office of the SP
Youth wingSP Jongeren[1] (2022–present)
ROOD[a] (2003–2021)
Membership (January 2024)Decrease 30,914[3]
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing[A]
Regional affiliationSocialists, Greens and Democrats
Colours  Crimson
Senate
4 / 75
House of Representatives
5 / 150
States-Provincial
22 / 570
European Parliament
0 / 31
King's Commissioners
1 / 12
Benelux Parliament
1 / 21
Website
sp.nl
international.sp.nl
^ A: SP has been variously described as "old left", far-left, and left-conservative; the latter label is due its more conservative stances on socio-cultural issues.[15]

Positioned to the political left of the Labour Party, the party has been part of the parliamentary opposition since it was formed.[20][21][22] After the 2006 Dutch general election, the SP became one of the major parties of the Netherlands winning 25 out of 150 parliamentary seats, an increase of 16 seats. In the 2010 Dutch general election, the parliamentary presence of the socialists decreased to 15 seats. In the 2012 Dutch general election, the party maintained those 15 seats. Following the 2017 and 2021 general elections, the SP fell back to the nine seats it held before 2006. After the 2023 Dutch general election, the SP delegation shrank from nine seats to five.[23][16]

History

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Foundation until 1994

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The Socialist Party was founded in October 1971 as a Maoist party named the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist–Leninist (KPN/ML). This KPN/ML was formed following a split from the Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (Marxist–Leninist). The issue that provoked the split from KEN(ml) was an intense debate on the role of intellectuals in the class struggle. The founders of KPN/ML, with Daan Monjé in a prominent role, belonged to the proletarian wing of the KEN(ml), who did not want an organisation dominated by students and intellectuals. In 1972, the KPN/ML changed its name to the Socialist Party (Dutch: Socialistiese Partij). Even in its early years, while adhering to Maoist principles such as organising the masses, the SP was very critical of the Chinese Communist Party, condemning its support for UNITA in Angola with the brochure "Antwoord aan de dikhuiden van de KEN" ('Answer to the thick skins of the KEN').[citation needed]

 
Jan Marijnissen

The SP started to build a network of local parties, with strong local roots. The SP had its own General Practitioners' offices, provided advice to citizens and set up local action groups. This developed within front organisations, separate trade unions, environmental organisations and tenant associations. This work resulted in a strong representation in several municipal legislatures, notably in Oss. Also in some States-Provincial, the SP gained a foothold, especially in the province of North Brabant.

Since 1977, SP attempted to enter the House of Representatives, but the party failed in 1977, 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1989. In 1991, the SP officially scrapped the term Marxism–Leninism because the party had evolved to the point that the term was no longer considered appropriate.

After 1994

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In the 1994 general election, the party's first members of parliament, namely Remi Poppe and Jan Marijnissen, were elected. Its slogan was "Vote Against" (Dutch: Stem tegen). In the 1990s, the major party of the Dutch left, the Labour Party (PvdA), moved to the centre, making the SP and the GroenLinks viable alternatives for some left-wing voters. In the 1998 general election, the party was rewarded for its opposition to the purple government of the first Kok cabinet and more than doubled its seats to five. In the 1999 European Parliament election, Erik Meijer was elected into the European Parliament for the SP.

In the 2002 general election, the SP ran with the slogan "Vote in Favor" (Dutch: Stem Voor). The party nearly doubled to nine seats. This result was kept in the 2003 general election. Leading up to the latter election, the SP was predicted to win as many as 24 (16%) seats in the polls. However, these gains failed to materialise as many potential SP voters chose to cast strategic votes for the Labour Party which stood a good chance of winning the elections. In the 2004 European Parliament election, its one seat was doubled to two.

In the 2005 referendum on the European Constitution, the SP was the only left-wing party in parliament to oppose it. Support for the party grew in opinion polls, but it fell slightly after the referendum.

The 2006 municipal elections were a success for the SP which more than doubled its total number of seats. This can in part be explained by the party standing in many more municipalities, but it can also be seen as a reaction to the so-called "right-wing winter" in national politics as the welfare reforms of the right-wing second Balkenende cabinet were called by its centre-left and left-wing opponents. In a reaction to these results, Marijnissen declared on election night that the "SP has grown up".

After the untimely end of the second Balkenende cabinet and the minority government of the third Balkenende cabinet, the SP gained 16 seats in the parliament after the 2006 general election, nearly tripling its parliamentary representation. With 25 seats, the SP became the third largest party of the Dutch parliament. In the 2006–2007 cabinet formation, the SP was unable to work out its policy differences with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and remained in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet which comprised the CDA, the PvdA and the Christian Union parties.

In the 2007 provincial elections, the SP gained 54 provincial legislators more than in the 2003 provincial elections and made it to a total of 83 provincial legislators. As a result of the provincial elections, the SP has increased its representatives in the Senate of the Netherlands (upper house) to 11 from the 4 it had previously.

 
Emile Roemer

In the 2010 general election, the SP fared worse than in the previous election, with a loss of 10 seats, a gain of 15 and only 9.9% of the overall vote. The party's popularity rose after the election, with polls throughout 2012 indicating it could challenge the ruling VVD with a seat count reaching into the 30s. The SP's popularity peaked in early August, a month before the election, with polls from Peil, Ipsos, and TNS NIPO indicating it would become the largest party with a result as high as 37 seats.[24] However, PvdA's popularity surged in the final weeks, and the SP's lead collapsed. The party ultimately placed fourth on 15 seats, with a slight decrease in its vote share compared to 2010.

In the 2017 general election, the SP lost one seat and finished sixth.

Ideology

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The SP has been described as socialist,[25] democratic socialist,[4] social democratic,[17][18][19] left-wing populist,[26] far-left[27] and Eurosceptic,[28] and is an advocate of Dutch republicanism.[29] The party labels itself as socialist,[30] and in its manifesto of principles, it calls for a society where human dignity, equality and solidarity are most important. Its core issues are employment, social welfare and investing in health care, public education and public safety. The party opposes privatisation of public services and is critical of globalisation. It has taken a soft Eurosceptic stance. The SP is also opposed to capitalism, as noted in what the SP calls its three main tasks:

In a world dominated by the interests of capital, human dignity, equality and solidarity are under pressure. Our goal is to build a modern socialist society in which we put these values into practice. To achieve this, the SP has three main tasks:

  1. Providing fundamental criticism of capitalism and organizing people against it
  2. Presenting our alternatives for the short and long term and fighting for them
  3. Collaborate with everyone who endorses our values, locally, nationally and internationally.

Capitalism leads to exploitation of people and division in society; pollution of the environment and depletion of the earth. The preservation of life is under pressure due to the overexploitation of current capitalism. This leads to destruction of the environment, to wars and flows of refugees. Our way of life must change to save nature and thus humans. More and more people are coming to the realization that the capitalist market economy does not work.[31]

According to Cas Mudde, the party has an "old left" platform that combines left-wing economic stances with "left-conservative" positions on some social issues — the party proposes a temporary stop on migrant workers, and it also rejects "identity politics".[15] The party program is heavily focused on Dutch blue collar workers, recalling a 'historical homeland' of Dutch workers that was destroyed by privatisation, deregulation and neoliberalism; in the same vein, the party is critical of the EU, calling its policies 'false internationalism' and accusing it of being in the service of big corporations and neoliberalism. The party's opposition to mass migration is explained by its focus on the protection of the working class; the SP argues that the Dutch working class must be protected by preventing an inflow of cheap labour into the Netherlands; party's slogan on immigration is "Class struggle instead of race struggle".[32] The Socialist Party is also heavily regarded as a textbook example of a left-wing populist party.[33][34]

Because of its social stances, the party has been described as culturally conservative.[13] Apart from campaigning on restricting immigration, the SP also opposes climate change measures that it considers unfair or disadvantageous to the working class. It also strongly opposes a "European superstate" and demands the return of the Dutch national currency, the Dutch guilder; in addition, the party supports border controls within the EU, and advocates introducing a work permit requirement for people entering the Netherlands from other EU countries. Given the party's social stances, its voter base consists of low-income and working-class Catholics of the Southern Netherlands, as well as trade union members.[35] It combines its social stances with an anti-neoliberal rhetoric, calling for the end of the elite's "pillage of the state, deception, and flogging off its people to a cabal of foreign capitalists".[36]

Since 1974, the party has instituted a pay cap for all MPs and elected officials. Any salary in excess of the cap is donated to the party to the party to be used for mutual aid.[37]

Relationships with other parties

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The SP has always been in opposition on a national level, although there are now numerous examples of government participation on a local and provincial level. On many issues, the SP is the most left-wing party in parliament. Between 1994 and 2002, the Labour Party (PvdA) had a conscious strategy to isolate the party, always voting against the latter's proposals. However, the party did co-operate well with GroenLinks. After its disastrous election result in 2002, the PvdA, now back in opposition, did co-operate with the SP against some of the policies of the centre-right Balkenende government and their relationship improved significantly. New tensions arose after the 2006 general election, when the SP approached the PvdA in electoral support and the PvdA joined the government whereas the SP did not.

Election results

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House of Representatives

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Election Lead candidate List Votes % Seats /– Government
1977 Remi Poppe List 24,420 0.29 New No seats
1981 Hans van Hooft Sr. List 30,357 0.35   No seats
1982 List 44,690 0.55   No seats
1986 List 31,983 0.35   No seats
1989 Jan Marijnissen List 38,789 0.44   No seats
1994 List 118,768 1.32   2 Opposition
1998 List 303,703 3.53   3 Opposition
2002 List 560,447 5.90   4 Opposition
2003 List 609,723 6.32   Opposition
2006 List 1,630,803 16.58   16 Opposition
2010 Emile Roemer List 924,696 9.82   10 Opposition
2012 List 909,853 9.65   Opposition
2017 List 955,633 9.09   1 Opposition
2021 Lilian Marijnissen List 623,436 5.98   5 Opposition
2023 List 328,225 3.15   4 Opposition

Senate

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Election Votes % Seats /–
1991 New
1995   1
1999 4,801 3.0   1
2003 8,551 5.3   2
2007 25,231 15.47   8
2011 17,187 10.35   4
2015 20,038 11.9   1
2019 10,179 5,88   5
2023 7,404 4.14   1

European Parliament

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Election List Votes % Seats /– EP Group
1989 List 34,332 0.65 New –
1994 List 55,311 1.34   0
1999 List 178,642 5.04   1 GUE/NGL
2004 List 332,326 6.97   1
2009 List 323,269 7.10   0
  0
2014 List 458,079 9.64   0
2019 List 185,224 3.37   2 –
  0
2024 List 136,978 2.20   0

Representation

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Members of the House of Representatives

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Main article: List of members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2023–present

Members of the Senate

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Main article: List of members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2023–2027

Members of the European Parliament

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See also: List of Socialist Party (Netherlands) Members of the European Parliament

The party currently has no members of the European Parliament since the 2024 European Parliamentary election.

Local and provincial government

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Former SP leader Emile Roemer was the first party member who became both mayor and commissioner (he was acting mayor of Heerlen and Alkmaar, and has been King's Commissioner of Limburg since 1 December 2021). The SP is part of the provincial executive (Gedeputeerde staten) in six out of twelve provinces. The SP is also part of several municipal executives (College van burgemeester en wethouders), notably in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Organisation

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Name

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The party was founded as the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist–Leninist (KPN/ML) in 1971. In 1972, it adopted the Socialist Party name (Dutch: Socialistiese Partij), with the spelling using -iese instead of -ische. This was due to the Dutch spelling reforms at the time. However, these spelling reforms failed and the party changed its name to Socialistische Partij in 1993.

Leadership

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Membership

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As of 2016, the SP has 41,710 members and has grown considerably since it entered parliament in 1994, making it the third largest party in terms of its number of members. Like other parties in the Netherlands, the SP has seen a decline in membership in recent years.[38]

Organisational structure

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The highest body within the SP is the party council, formed by the chairs of all local branches and the party board. It convenes at least four times a year. The party board is elected by the party congress which is formed by delegates from the municipal branches. The congress decides on the order of the candidates for national and European elections and it has a final say over the party program.

The SP is a constant active force in extra-parliamentary protest. Many of its members are active in local campaigning groups, often independent groups dominated by the SP, or in the SP neighbourhood centres, where the party provides help for the working class.[39]

An example more of nationwide nature is the movement for a National Healthcare Fund (Dutch: Nationaal ZorgFonds).[40] This campaign demonstrates the necessity of a single payer system and wants to remove market and commercialisation aspects of the current healthcare system. The expensive advertising annually organised by healthcare insurance companies in order to attract new customers is a big example. The NHS inspired movement thinks that money should solely be spent on healthcare itself. Switching from one insurance company to another can only be done once every year as restricted by Dutch law.

Linked organisations

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The youth wing of the Socialist Party is called SP Jongeren. Its old youth-wing was ROOD; the word rood is officially written in capitals but is not an acronym. The SP publishes the magazine the Tribune monthly[41] which was also the name of a historical Communist Party of the Netherlands newspaper. The relationship between Rood and the SP became rocky in 2020 due to the youth wing taking a more radical approach to politics.[42] In late 2020 the party cut ties with ROOD.[35]

Splinter groups

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At one point, two Trotskyist entryist groups operated within the SP. This included Offensive, now called Socialist Alternative, and the International Socialists. The latter was expelled on the grounds of double membership. The similar yet very small group Offensief was not considered a factor of power, but its members were banned from the SP in February 2009, on the grounds of being "a party within a party". Members of the party Socialist Alternative Politics still operate within the SP.

Notes

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  1. ^ It has not been funded by the SP since November 2020.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "SP Jongeren: een nieuwe naam, nieuwe energie". SP.nl (in Dutch). 27 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  2. ^ "SP stopt financiering jongerenorganisatie ROOD". NOS.nl (in Dutch). 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2024" [Membership of Dutch political parties as of 1 January 2024]. University of Groningen (in Dutch). Documentation Centre Dutch Political Parties. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Magone, José (3 July 2013). Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction. Routledge. p. 533. ISBN 978-1-136-93397-4. Several smaller leftwing parties were able to improve their electoral positions in the past decade. ... One such party is the Dutch Socialist Party ..., which has its origins in Marxism–Leninism and Maoisim, but which has moderated its ideology towards democratic socialism.
  5. ^ https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/will-dutch-voters-keep-right-or-turn-left/ [bare URL]
  6. ^ "Links-populistische partijvorming". parlement.com (in Dutch). 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Links populisme: Een strategie tegen het neoliberalisme". sp.nl (in Dutch). 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  8. ^ [5][6][7]
  9. ^ Oudenampsen, Merijn (23 May 2013). Ruth Wodak; Majid KhosraviNik; Brigitte Mral (eds.). Explaining the Swing to the Right: The Dutch Debate on the Rise of Right-Wing Populism. Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse. A&C Black. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-78093-245-3.
  10. ^ Voerman, Gerrit; Lucardie, Anthonie (2007). "Sociaal-democratie nu definitief verdeeld: Met volwassen SP is het abonnement van de PvdA op de linkse stem verlopen". NRC Handelsblad.
  11. ^ [9][10]
  12. ^ "Koninklijk Huis: Geen politieke functies voor ongekozen staatshoofd". Socialist Party (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  13. ^ a b
    • Mudde, Cas (16 January 2024). "Can Europe's new 'conservative left' persuade voters to abandon the far right?". The Guardian. The Dutch Socialist party (SP) campaigned on an "old left" platform combining traditional leftwing economic positions, for example on healthcare, with demands for a temporary stop on migrant workers and a popular leader, Lilian Marijnissen, attacking "identity politics". But it lost yet again, while the (combined) far right won a postwar record number of votes. In some countries this "leftwing conservative" approach has led to a fall in far-right support: for example, it benefited the Danish Social Democrats.
    • de Jong, Alex (29 January 2021). "Waarom het niet goed gaat met de SP". Sociaal & Groen (in Dutch). Dat de SP geen grotere rol speelt in dergelijke bewegingen is niet het gevolg van een gebrek aan middelen. Dit is eerder een strategie, gemotiveerd door het prioriteren van verkiezingsresultaten en een afweging van wat de partijleiding denkt dat de meeste stemmen zal opleveren. Antiracistische en klimaatveranderingsmaatregelen worden verondersteld te 'controversieel' te zijn bij SP-kiezers. Voormalig SP-raadslid Mahmut Erciyas beschrijft dit als een 'gecombineerde strategie van sociaal-economisch progressivisme én cultureel conservatisme'. [That the SP does not play a bigger role in such movements is not due to a lack of resources. Rather, this is a strategy, motivated by prioritising election results and weighing up what the party leadership thinks will garner the most votes. Anti-racist and climate change measures are assumed to be too ‘controversial’ among SP voters. Former SP councillor Mahmut Erciyas describes this as a ‘combined strategy of socio-economic progressivism as well as cultural conservatism’.]
    • Levie, Kevyn (23 January 2021). "The Dutch Government's Benefits Scandal Is Rooted in Stigma Against Welfare Recipients". The Jacobin. The Socialist Party (SP), on the other hand, persists in a course of cultural conservatism that alienates both activists and potential voters.
  14. ^ "Party watch: SP wants end to healthcare cuts". Dutch News (in Dutch). 10 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  15. ^ a b Mudde, Cas (16 January 2024). "Can Europe's new 'conservative left' persuade voters to abandon the far right?". The Guardian.
  16. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (March 2021). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  17. ^ a b Oudenampsen, Merijn (23 May 2013). Ruth Wodak; Majid KhosraviNik; Brigitte Mral (eds.). Explaining the Swing to the Right: The Dutch Debate on the Rise of Right-Wing Populism. Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse. A&C Black. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-78093-245-3.
  18. ^ a b Voerman, Gerrit; Lucardie, Anthonie (2007). "Sociaal-democratie nu definitief verdeeld: Met volwassen SP is het abonnement van de PvdA op de linkse stem verlopen". NRC Handelsblad.
  19. ^ a b Watkins, Susan (May–June 2005). "Continental tremors". New Left Review. II (33). New Left Review.
  20. ^ Stone, Jon (19 February 2018). "Forum For Democracy: New Dutch Eurosceptic party that wants EU referendum now polling in second place". The Independent. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  21. ^ Kroet, Chyntia (22 March 2018). "Rutte's support steady in Dutch local elections". Politico. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  22. ^ "A Dutch election boosts both pro-EU liberals and the far right". The Economist. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Parties and Elections in Europe".
  24. ^ "Nieuw Haags Peil". Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  25. ^ van Driel, Mirte (20 May 2023). "Argumentation and fallacy in Dutch populist discourse: A comparative analysis of right-wing and left-wing parties". Radboud Universiteit. p. 29.
  26. ^ Andeweg, R. B.; Galen A. Irwin (2002). Governance and politics of the Netherlands. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 51. ISBN 0333961579.
  27. ^ Contemporary Far Left Parties in Europe From Marxism to the Mainstream? Luke March, 2008, P.4
  28. ^ Pater Teffer (28 April 2014). "Dutch euroscepticism moves mainstream". EUobserver. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  29. ^ "Koninklijk Huis: Geen politieke functies voor ongekozen staatshoofd". Socialist Party (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  30. ^ Introducing the Dutch Socialist Party. Socialist Party (Netherlands). Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  31. ^ HEEL DE MENS
  32. ^ Blanksma, Thijs (31 January 2022). Alternating between 'vote against!' and 'vote for!' A case study of left-wing populism in the Netherlands (European Studies – Identity and Integration thesis). University of Amsterdam. pp. 20–23.
  33. ^ Mudde, Cas (2004). "The Populist Zeitgeist". Government and Opposition. 39 (4): 542–563. doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x.
  34. ^ van Kessel, Stijn (23 January 2024). "A Matter of Supply and Demand: The Electoral Performance of Populist Parties in Three European Countries". Government and Opposition. 48 (2). Cambridge University Press: 175–199. JSTOR 26347392.
  35. ^ a b de Jong, Alex (18 January 2021). "Why the Dutch Socialist Party Is in Crisis". The Jacobin. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  36. ^ Goodger, Edward; Harvey, William (2021). "Policy and Populism: Explaining Support for the Radical Left in Contemporary Western Democracies". Durham e-Theses. Durham University: 65.
  37. ^ "Onze Solidariteitsregeling" [Our Solidarity Scheme]. SP.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 October 2024. Tweede Kamerleden ontvangen van het parlement een politieke vergoeding van ongeveer 7000 euro netto per maand. SP-Tweede Kamerleden dragen dat aan de partij af en krijgen van de partij ter compensatie van hun inzet daarvoor in ruil een bedrag van 3.276 euro per maand terug. Dat geldt ook voor wethouders en Gedeputeerden. [Lower House members receive from parliament a political allowance of about 7,000 euros net per month. SP Lower House members remit that to the party and receive a sum of 3,276 euros per month from the party in return for their efforts. The same applies to aldermen and deputies.]
  38. ^ "SP ledentallen per jaar (1992– ) – Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen (DNPP)". Archived from the original on 12 December 2016.
  39. ^ Partij, Socialistische (11 June 2014). "An activist party".
  40. ^ "Op naar een Nationaal ZorgFonds". Op naar een Nationaal ZorgFonds, zonder eigen risico (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  41. ^ Tribune's website (in Dutch)
  42. ^ "Conflict rond 'radicale communisten' binnen de SP escaleert" (in Dutch).
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