Dutch Tweede Kamer seats as of 2006

PvdD (2)     D66 (3)     GL (7)     SP (25)     PvdA (33)

CU (6)     CDA (41)     VVD (22)     SGP (2)     PVV (9)

The 2006 Dutch general elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday, November 22, 2006, and followed the call for new elections after the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. The Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal ( literally "Second Chamber of the States-General" short Tweede Kamer, is the Dutch Lower house. The Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren is a Political party in the Netherlands with two out of the one hundred and fifty seats in parliament. Democrats 66 ( D66, Democraten 66 official name Politieke Partij Democraten 66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and GroenLinks ( GL, English: GreenLeft) is a Dutch Green Political party. The Socialist Party ( SP, Dutch: Socialistische Partij) is a Dutch socialist Political party. This article is about the Dutch political party See Christian Union (students (with space between the two words for the university religious organization and Christian The Christian Democratic Appeal ( CDA) (Christen Democratisch Appèl is a Dutch Christian-democratic Political party. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( VVD) (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie is a Dutch liberal Political party. The Political Reformed Party ( Dutch: Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. The Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV) is a Dutch conservative political party Elections in the Netherlands are held for six territorial levels the European Union (beyond the scope of this article the state the 12 Provinces The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

There are a total of 150 seats (zetels) in the second chamber of the Dutch parliament (Tweede Kamer). The Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal ( literally "Second Chamber of the States-General" short Tweede Kamer, is the Dutch Lower house. The elections proved relatively successful for the governing Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which remained the largest party with 41 seats, a loss of only three seats. The Christian Democratic Appeal ( CDA) (Christen Democratisch Appèl is a Dutch Christian-democratic Political party. The largest increase in seats was for the Socialist Party (SP), which went from nine to 25 seats. The Socialist Party ( SP, Dutch: Socialistische Partij) is a Dutch socialist Political party. The main opposition party, the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) lost nine of its 42 seats, while the right-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the progressive liberal Democrats 66 lost a considerable portion of their seats, six of 28 and three of six, respectively. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( VVD) (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie is a Dutch liberal Political party. Democrats 66 ( D66, Democraten 66 official name Politieke Partij Democraten 66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and New parties, such as the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) of former VVD MP Geert Wilders and the animal rights party Party for the Animals (PvdD) were also successful, with the PVV winning nine seats and the PvdD winning two, thereby becoming the first animal rights group to enter a European parliament. The Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV) is a Dutch conservative political party Geert Wilders ('xert 'ʋildərs 'ʋildəʁs}} born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch Politician. The Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren is a Political party in the Netherlands with two out of the one hundred and fifty seats in parliament. "Animal liberation" redirects here for other uses see Animal liberation (disambiguation. ^[1]

The formation talks led to the installation of the Christian-social fourth cabinet Balkenende, composed of CDA, PvdA and ChristianUnion on February 22, 2007. Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started involving negotiations about which coalition partners Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Issues at stake

The Netherlands

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Netherlands

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The main issue at stake during the elections was the economic performance of the centre-right Second Balkenende cabinet — which consisted of the Christian-democratic CDA, the conservative liberal VVD and the progressive liberal D66 — as well as the composition of the new government and the future of the Dutch economy. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary Representative democracy, a Constitutional monarchy and a The Netherlands and The Kingdom of the Netherlands are two distinct geographical and administrative entities The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom ( Dutch: Ministerraad van het Koninkrijk or Rijksministerraad) is the executive council of the Kingdom of the The Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba (Gevolmachtigd Minister van Aruba represents the constituent country of Aruba in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom The Minister Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles (Gevolmachtigd Minister van de Nederlandse Antillen represents the constituent country of the Netherlands Antilles The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; in Papiamentu Statuut pa e Reino di Hulanda) describes the The Constitution of the Netherlands is the Fundamental law of the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Human rights of the Netherlands are codified in the Dutch constitution. The Netherlands has been an independent Monarchy since 16 March 1815, and has been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange (in Dutch: Prins van Oranje The States-General ( Staten-Generaal) is the Parliament of the Netherlands. The Eerste Kamer ( First Chamber) is the Upper House or Senate of the Netherlands parliament the States-General The Historic composition of the Eerste Kamer gives an overview of the composition of the Higher House of the Dutch parliament The Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal ( literally "Second Chamber of the States-General" short Tweede Kamer, is the Dutch Lower house. The Historic composition of the Tweede Kamer gives an overview of the composition of the Lower House of the Dutch parliament The Dutch Council of Ministers is the executive council of Dutch government, formed by all the ministers This executive council initiates laws and policy The cabinet of the Netherlands is the main executive body of the Dutch government. This is a list of cabinets of the Netherlands Note first party mentioned provided prime minister The Prime minister of the Netherlands is the Head of government of the Netherlands and is the chair of the Dutch cabinet, and This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands since 1848 Jan Peter Balkenende (pronounced ˈjɑn ˈpetər ˈbɑɫkənɛndə) (born 7 May 1956 is a Christian Democratic politician who has been the Prime Minister of the This article lists political parties in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a Multi-party system with numerous parties in which any one party has little This article gives an overview of liberalism in the Netherlands. This article gives an overview of socialism in the Netherlands, including Communism and Social democracy. This article gives an overview of Christian democracy in the Netherlands, which is also called confessional politics, including political catholicism and Elections in the Netherlands are held for six territorial levels the European Union (beyond the scope of this article the state the 12 Provinces Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands, on March 7, 2007. The Dutch municipal elections of 2006 were held on March 7 2006. The Dutch referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was a consultative Referendum that was held on 1 June 2005 to decide if the The European Parliament election of 2004 in the Netherlands was the election of MEP representing Netherlands constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European A Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the local municipalities having the responsibility for matters of subnational or regional The States-Provincial ( Provinciale Staten, or PS - commonly known as simply the Staten, or States) is the provincial parliament and legislative Dutch water boards (waterschappen or nl ''hoogheemraadschappen'' are regional government bodies in the Netherlands. |||} All provinces of the Netherlands are divided into municipalities ( gemeenten) together 443 (2007 The European Union is a unique entity possessing elements of Intergovernmentalism, Supranationalism and a Multi-party Parliamentary democracy The Foreign policy of the Netherlands is based on four basic commitments to the atlantic cooperation, to European integration, to International This page lists embassies and consulates posted in the Netherlands. Listed below are the embassies and consulates of the Netherlands, excluding honorary consulates Europe Tirana A High Council of State (in Dutch: Hoog College van Staat) is a council of which the independence is guaranteed in the Constitution of the Netherlands. The National Ombudsman (in Dutch: Nationale Ombudsman) is a Dutch political office In the Netherlands, the Council of State ( Raad van State) is a Constitutionally established advisory body to the Government which consists of The General Chamber of Auditors (in Dutch: Algemene Rekenkamer) is an independent organ that Audits the spending of the national government on its Efficiency The Sociaal-Economische Raad (Social Economic Council SER is a major economic advisory council of the Dutch government The Hoge Raad der Nederlanden ( High Council of the Netherlands) is the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, situated in The Hague. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB The Dutch Bank) is the Central bank of the Netherlands. Rise of Socialism In the beginning of the 20th century socialism began to develop in the Netherlands Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent The Christian Democratic Appeal ( CDA) (Christen Democratisch Appèl is a Dutch Christian-democratic Political party. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( VVD) (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie is a Dutch liberal Political party. Democrats 66 ( D66, Democraten 66 official name Politieke Partij Democraten 66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and Overview The Netherlands has a prosperous and Open economy, which depends heavily on foreign Trade. Other issues were integration and the environment.

Power question

The most important question of the elections was which party would become the largest, the governing Christian-democratic CDA or the main opposition party, the social-democratic PvdA. This was similar to the situation of the elections of 2003. A general election of the Tweede Kamer of the Dutch Parliament was held in The Netherlands on January 22, 2003 The largest party will have the initiative in the cabinet formation talks. Furthermore, if it becomes part of the cabinet, the largest party supplies the prime minister. The Prime minister of the Netherlands is the Head of government of the Netherlands and is the chair of the Dutch cabinet, and The media have framed the elections as a 'Clash of the Titans' between prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA) and candidate prime minister Wouter Bos (PvdA). Jan Peter Balkenende (pronounced ˈjɑn ˈpetər ˈbɑɫkənɛndə) (born 7 May 1956 is a Christian Democratic politician who has been the Prime Minister of the Drs Wouter Jacob Bos (born 14 July 1963 in Vlaardingen) is the Dutch Minister of Finance and deputy prime minister

Both parties had consciously kept their options open and expressed a preference for the composition of a new cabinet. The other parties did express clear preferences: the VVD wanted to continue to govern with the CDA, while the Socialist Party and the GreenLeft (GL) wanted to form a leftist coalition, the so-called Left-wing Spring. The Socialist Party ( SP, Dutch: Socialistische Partij) is a Dutch socialist Political party. GroenLinks ( GL, English: GreenLeft) is a Dutch Green Political party. Broadly speaking, it appeared that there were three options: a continuation of the third Balkendende cabinet with CDA and VVD, a left-wing coalition of PvdA, SP and GL or a centre-left coalition of PvdA and CDA.

In 2004 and 2005, the polls indeed indicated that the united left could gain a majority in the Tweede Kamer. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal ( literally "Second Chamber of the States-General" short Tweede Kamer, is the Dutch Lower house. The polls predicted two head-to-head races. One between the PvdA and ruling CDA and another between the left-wing bloc (PvdA, SP, GreenLeft) and the right-wing bloc (CDA, VVD) with neither gaining a majority. Early November polls however showed that the CDA was gaining on and surpassing the PvdA. Mid-November polls indicated that the PvdA was bleeding votes to the SP while the CDA remained more or less stable. The left- and right-wing blocks remained in an equilibrium with neither side gaining enough votes for an overall majority. Small centrist parties such as the ChristianUnion could play a decisive role. This article is about the Dutch political party See Christian Union (students (with space between the two words for the university religious organization and Christian

The day before the elections, about one third of the electorate had not yet made up their minds, resulting in polls giving strongly varying indications. For this reason campaigning continued on election day itself. An aspect of this was tactical voting, with SP telling PvdA voters that a strong SP would force PvdA to form a left-wing coalition, VVD saying something similar to CDA voters concerning a right-wing coalition, PvdA and CDA saying they needed to be strong to prevent the other party from forming or dominating a coalition and ChristianUnion saying it has the best cards to participate in any coalition. Shortly before the elections, PvdA leader Bos showed himself more interested in the much talked about left-wing coalition of PvdA, SP and GroenLinks (possibly with ChristenUnie), which he had refused to talk about for months.

Social-economic issues

The debates were dominated by social-economic questions and especially the performance of the Balkenende cabinets.

In the last four years the three Balkenende cabinets had implemented an ambitious program of social-economic reforms, including tax cuts, reforms to the social welfare system and investments in education. Their aim was to jump start the Dutch economy. Initially there was great public dissatisfaction with this policy, with large demonstrations in 2003, 2004 and 2005 by the main labour union FNV and the three main opposition parties. Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> The Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (Dutch Federation Dutch Labour Movement They criticised the government for taking these measures at the wrong point in time, during a recession, and they claimed that the government made the poor and socially weaker pay for the economic recovery. A major focus of this debate was on the fact that more than 10% of the people were said to live in poverty, as exemplified by the rising number of 'voedselbanken' (give-away shops for food). Give-away shops, freeshops, or free stores are second-hand stores where all goods are free As the economy began to perform better in 2006 the public dissatisfaction decreased.

There were roughly three positions on the future of the Dutch economy. The CDA claimed that the reforms were finished and that the following cabinet would not have to take any serious measures. The VVD wanted to continue reforming to increase the performance of the Dutch economy. They wanted to continue to cut taxes and reduce bureaucracy. The opposition parties PvdA, SP, GL, joined by the ChristianUnion wanted to revert some of the measures and pay more attention to the public sector, especially to the health care-sector and the poor. This article is about the Dutch political party See Christian Union (students (with space between the two words for the university religious organization and Christian The public sector is the part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the Government, whether national Regional Health care is the prevention treatment and management of illness and the preservation of mental health through the services offered by the medical, Nursing The PvdA and the GreenLeft however also announced that they wanted to reform part of the economy and welfare system. For instance several months before the elections, Wouter Bos, the leader of Labour Party, announced that he wanted to tax the elderly pension in such a way that rich elderly would pay more taxes on their pensions than poor elderly. A pension is a steady income given to a person upon Retirement, typically in the form of a guaranteed annuity. The Dutch pension system consists of government supplied (AOW) and mandatory self-saved pensions. It is the latter portion Bos wanted to tax progressively. A progressive tax is a Tax imposed so that the Tax rate increases as the amount subject to taxation increases The proposal led to considerable controversy, both outside and within Bos' own party. Former minister and de Volkskrant columnist Marcel van Dam wrote a critical column on 22 June concerning Bos' proposal. De Volkskrant (literally "the people's paper" is a national daily Dutch morning Newspaper. ^[2] The second man of the Christian Democratic Appeal Maxime Verhagen used soundbites from the proposal continually to emphasise that the PvdA was an unreliable partner for the elderly. The Christian Democratic Appeal ( CDA) (Christen Democratisch Appèl is a Dutch Christian-democratic Political party. Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (born 14 September 1956) is a Dutch Politician. ^[3] Bos later moderated his plans: only new cases would pay taxes over their pension. ^[4]

Immigration and integration

Immigration and integration, which had dominated the 2002 and 2003 elections, were clearly less important during these elections.

The focus was on the policy of Rita Verdonk, minister of immigration and integration, who had reduced the influx of immigrants and implemented mandatory integration courses for migrants. Drs Maria Cornelia Frederika ("Rita" Verdonk (born 18 October 1955) is a Dutch Politician who was minister for Immigration Verdonk's attitudes toward immigrants were again in the spotlight after her treatment of the crisis around the naturalisation of Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali caused the cabinet to fall. Ayaan Hirsi Ali ( Ayaan Xirsi Cali; born Ayaan Hirsi Magan 13 November 1969 in Mogadishu, Somalia) is a Dutch

In the debates one issue was especially important: the treatment of 26,000 asylum seekers which had been in legal procedures for over five years. The left-wing opposition parties PvdA, SP, GL and CU, joined by former coalition-partner D66 wanted a general pardon for this group, granting them all a residence permit. The CDA, VVD and the smaller right-wing parties of Geert Wilders and Marco Pastors opposed such a permit because it would attract illegal immigrants. Geert Wilders ('xert 'ʋildərs 'ʋildəʁs}} born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch Politician. Marco Pastors (born September 10, 1965 in Beneden-Leeuwen, Gelderland) is a Dutch Politician. Minister Verdonk claimed that she had actually already taken care of these 26,000 asylum seekers, sending many back to their own country and granting many a residence permit.

A minor issue was the ban on burqas and other face-covering clothing in public which minister Verdonk announced on November 17, 2006. Islamic dress, notably the variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women, has become a prominent symbol of the presence of Islam in Western Europe A burqa (also Transliterated burkha, burka or burqua) is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions for the Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers ^[5] The opposition Labour Party, called the law an "election ploy", and a Muslim leader described it as "a big law for a small problem. "^[5]

Several right-wing parties, such as One NL and Party for Freedom, had campaigned extensively on the issue of immigration and integration. Eén NL (One NL is a Dutch Political party founded in September 2006 The Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV) is a Dutch conservative political party Wilders of the Party for Freedom wanted a halt of immigration from non-Western countries, abolish double citizenship, and stop the building of new mosques. Wilders said that the "Islamisation of the Netherlands" is a "tsunami" that needed to be stopped, "because it threatens our culture. "^[6]

The environment

The environment finally also became a secondary issue during the elections.

The first attention to environmental issues was attracted by Greenpeace who interfered in the CDA party congress on September 30, 2006. Greenpeace, originally known as the Greenpeace Foundation, was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1972 Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. During a speech of parliamentary chairman Maxime Verhagen, activists of Greenpeace rolled down a large sign saying "CDA chooses for 240,000 years of nuclear waste," referring to the news a day earlier that the CDA junior minister of the environment Pieter van Geel is open to new possibilities for nuclear energy in the Netherlands. Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (born 14 September 1956) is a Dutch Politician. Greenpeace, originally known as the Greenpeace Foundation, was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1972 Petrus ("Pieter" Leonardus Bastiaan Antonius van Geel (born April 8, 1956 in Valkenswaard, Noord-Brabant) is a Dutch ^[7] Four activists were apprehended by the police afterwards. ^[8][9][7]

Other important events increasing the attention on environmental issues were the Stern report of the United Kingdom government and the visit of Al Gore to Amsterdam promoting his movie An Inconvenient Truth. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is a 700-page report released on October 30, 2006 by economist Lord Stern of Brentford for the Albert Arnold Gore Jr (born March 31 1948 is an American environmental Activist, author Businessperson, former Politician, and former An Inconvenient Truth is an American Documentary film about Global warming, presented by former United States Vice President

The GreenLeft focused on this issue during its campaigns and sponsored ads which read: "Who votes strategically when the polar caps are melting?"^[10] The Party for the Animals had campaigned on one issue closely related to environmental problems: the position of animals in Dutch society and especially in agriculture. The Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren is a Political party in the Netherlands with two out of the one hundred and fifty seats in parliament. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture

Events leading up to the election

Internal elections

In the month before the fall of the cabinet two parties held internal elections on who would lead their parties in the next elections, which were scheduled for 2007. In the internal election of the conservative liberal VVD the more liberal secretary of state for science and higher education Mark Rutte beat the more conservative minister without portfolio for immigration and integration Rita Verdonk. The Dutch liberal party the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD announced the results of its Lijsttrekker election on 31 May 2006 Mark Rutte (born February 14, 1967 in The Hague, Zuid-Holland) is a Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD A Minister without Portfolio is either a Government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry. Drs Maria Cornelia Frederika ("Rita" Verdonk (born 18 October 1955) is a Dutch Politician who was minister for Immigration In the internal election of the progressive liberal D66 the more radical democratic minister without portfolio for government reform Alexander Pechtold beat the more social-liberal chair of the parliamentary party Lousewies van der Laan. The Dutch social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66 has held a Lijsttrekker election for June 24, 2006. Democrats 66 ( D66, Democraten 66 official name Politieke Partij Democraten 66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and Alexander Pechtold (born December 16 1965) is a Dutch Politician. Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe (Lousewies van der Laan ( Rotterdam, February 18, 1966) is a former Dutch Politician

Fall of the Cabinet

The next Dutch general election was originally scheduled for May 15, 2007 as the parliament was to be dissolved on April 2, 2007. Elections in the Netherlands are held for six territorial levels the European Union (beyond the scope of this article the state the 12 Provinces Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. However, it was announced that elections would be held on 22 November 2006,^[1] as Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, offered the resignation of the cabinet on June 30, 2006 after one of the coalition partners, D66, withdrew their support from the cabinet the day before over Rita Verdonk's treatment of the Ayaan Hirsi Ali case. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Jan Peter Balkenende (pronounced ˈjɑn ˈpetər ˈbɑɫkənɛndə) (born 7 May 1956 is a Christian Democratic politician who has been the Prime Minister of the Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Democrats 66 ( D66, Democraten 66 official name Politieke Partij Democraten 66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and Drs Maria Cornelia Frederika ("Rita" Verdonk (born 18 October 1955) is a Dutch Politician who was minister for Immigration Ayaan Hirsi Ali ( Ayaan Xirsi Cali; born Ayaan Hirsi Magan 13 November 1969 in Mogadishu, Somalia) is a Dutch ^[11][12] A new cabinet continued for five months as a care taker cabinet until the elections. In Politics, a caretaker government rules temporarily A caretaker government is often set up following a War until stable Democratic rule can be restored The opposition had pressed for speedy elections because they were on a winning streak. The late date for the elections probably worked to the advantage of the CDA because in those five months the economy improved and in the past the biggest coalition partner had always come out as the biggest party if the economy blooms. A major issue in the campaigns was whether this improving economy was because of or in spite of the right-wing government.

Splintered Fortuynists

After the fall of the cabinet several new small right-wing parties announced that they would run. Most of these parties either came out of the remains of Pim Fortuyn's List Pim Fortuyn (LPF) or the liberal VVD. Wilhelmus Simon Petrus (Pim Fortuyn (pɪm fɔʁtœʏn ( February 19, 1948 – May 6, 2002) was a controversial openly gay charismatic Pim Fortuyn List ( Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF is a defunct Political party in the Netherlands. In the period before the elections the small right was characterized by a chaos of secessions, new formations and party switches. Former Rotterdam alderman Marco Pastors and member of parliament for the LPF Joost Eerdmans formed Eén NL. Marco Pastors (born September 10, 1965 in Beneden-Leeuwen, Gelderland) is a Dutch Politician. Bernard Johannes (Joost Eerdmans ( Harderwijk, 9 January 1971) is a politician in the Netherlands, and member of the Eén NL party Eén NL (One NL is a Dutch Political party founded in September 2006 Party for the Netherlands was led by former LPF minister Hilbrand Nawijn, while Wilders recruited people for his new Party for Freedom, which would take part in the 2006 elections. Party for the Netherlands (Partij voor Nederland (PVN is a Dutch Right-wing Fortuynist Political party founded in August 2006 by Dutch Hilbrand Pier Anne Nawijn (born August 8, 1948) is a Dutch Politician, a former Member of the Dutch Parliament, and until The Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV) is a Dutch conservative political party Nawijn and Wilders formed one man parties in parliament at that time, while Eerdmans has formed the "Group Eerdmans-Van Schijndel" along with former VVD MP Anton van Schijndel. Two other LPF politicians have formed one man fractions but they have not formed their own party: Gerard van As, former leader of the LPF, and Gonny van Oudenallen, also former LPF. Gerard Pieter van As (born 12 November 1944, Gouda) is a Dutch Politician. Hillegonda Francisca Maria "Gonny" van Oudenallen (born Amsterdam, January 31 1957 is a Dutch Politician. Margot Kraneveldt left the LPF, returned her seat to the party and joined the social-democratic PvdA. Meanwhile the LPF announced that it would also run the next elections, under the name "Fortuyn". The party is led by Olaf Stuger, who served as member of parliament in the period 2002-2003 and returned to parliament in 2006, to replace Gerard van As. Olaf Frederik Stuger ( Driebergen, May 3, 1969) is a Dutch Politician.

Exodus of prominent politicians

Several prominent politicians announced they would step down before the elections. Some commentators spoke of a large exodus. ^[13] Within the liberal VVD former chair of the parliamentary party Jozias van Aartsen announced he would retire, as did his vice-chair Bibi de Vries, Frans Weisglas the current speaker of parliament, and ministers Hans Hoogervorst, Sybilla Dekker, state secretary Melanie Schultz van Haegen and Henk van Hoof. Jozias Johannes van Aartsen (born December 25, 1947 in The Hague) is a Dutch Politician and member of the liberal Bibi de Vries (born March 15, 1963 in Egmond aan Zee) was a member of the Dutch liberal VVD (Volkspartij voor Frans W Weisglas (born The Hague, August 8 1946 is a Dutch Politician for the VVD party Hans Hoogervorst (b 19 April 1956, Haarlem) was the Minister of Health Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands between May 2003 and February 2007 Within the CDA, ministers Cees Veerman and Karla Peijs announced they would not return, as did state secretary Clemence Ross. Cornelis Pieter ("Cees" Veerman (born 8 March 1949, Nieuw-Beijerland) is a Dutch Politician. Karla Maria Henriëtte Peijs (born September 1, 1944 in Tilburg) is a Dutch Politician of the CDA. Both D66's current chairperson Lousewies van der Laan and her predecessor Boris Dittrich also announced they would not return. Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe (Lousewies van der Laan ( Rotterdam, February 18, 1966) is a former Dutch Politician Boris Ottokar Dittrich ( Utrecht, July 21, 1955) is a Dutch Politician and human rights activist.

Turkish-Dutch candidates and the Armenian Genocide

On September 26, 2006, a candidate for the Labour Party, Erdinç Saçan, was removed by his party, because he would not hold to the party stance that the Armenian Genocide was caused by the Young Turks. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Erdinç Saçan (born in 's-Hertogenbosch, 12 May 1979) is an internet entrepreneur website administrator columnist and politician of Turkish descent The Young Turks ( Turkish: Jön Türkler (plural from French: Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favoring reforming the ^[14] That same evening, the CDA announced that two of their candidates, Ayhan Tonca and Osman Elmaci, have been removed as well, because of the same issue. ^[15] Both parties agreed that all their members should openly conform to the party's point of view on this sensitive human rights issue. The sensitivity over these issues was underlined when the speaker of the Turkish parliament, Bülent Arınç, in response threatened the Netherlands with diplomatic action over this incident. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi - TBMM, usually referred to simply as Meclis - "the Parliament" is the Unicameral Bülent Arınç (born 1948 is a Turkish Politician of oratorical renown ^[16] Namik Tan, spokesperson for the Turkish Department of Foreign Affairs said that "we are deeply worried about the one-sided approach of our ally Netherlands’ political parties on the so-called Armenian genocide as this puts a limit on the freedom of expression. "^[17] Labour Party leader Wouter Bos later said that the term genocide is used too easily, and that he rather speak of the "Armenian question. Drs Wouter Jacob Bos (born 14 July 1963 in Vlaardingen) is the Dutch Minister of Finance and deputy prime minister Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction in whole or in part of an ethnic racial religious or national group "^[18]

News of possible mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners in 2003

De Volkskrant newspaper published a story just a week before the election saying that Dutch soldiers "tortured" Iraqi prisoners in Iraq, back in 2003. De Volkskrant (literally "the people's paper" is a national daily Dutch morning Newspaper. ^[19][20] Defense minister Henk Kamp ordered an immediate (re-)investigation into the matter, but said that earlier information about this case did not result in the military police and Dutch public prosecutors to start a criminal investigation. Henricus ("Henk" Gregorius Jozeph Kamp (born July 23, 1952 in Hengelo, Overijssel) is a Dutch politician ^[21][22] Left-wing parties, such as the Labour Party (PvdA), which demanded an immediate parliamentary investigation were later rebuked by military commander Dick Berlijn, who stated that the left-wing opposition tarnished the reputation of the Dutch Department of Defense by their incriminating language, while nothing happened in Iraq. Dick Berlijn ( Amsterdam, 18 March 1950 was the Commander-in-chief of the Military of the Netherlands from 2005 until 2008 when he was succeeded by ^[23] Mark Rutte, leader of the VVD, even went as far as to say that this Iraq story was a manipulation in order to influence the elections. ^[24] In an open letter to De Volkskrant on the day of the Dutch elections, defense minister Kamp said the news about possible mistreatment was deceptive, and that the editor of De Volkskrant should feel being misused by the sources for this story. ^[25] The Department of Defense in the mean time is demanding a rectification of the story published by De Volkskrant. ^[26]

A Dutch magazine, Elsevier, later (January 2007) reported that the no. Elsevier is a Dutch weekly Magazine with a circulation of over 140000 copies 5 candidate of the Labour Party (PvdA), Ton Heerts, "advised" the Volkskrant on how to report on the story. ^[27]

Voting Tools

Several organisations launched a voting tool which helped voters to decide between the multitude of parties. The Institute for Public and Politics (IPP), a government agency, had the "Stemwijzer" (the "Voting-pointer"). The Stemwijzer consisted out of thirty propositions like "Citizens should elect the Prime Minister. " and voters could show their support for these propositions by clicking either "agree", "don't agree" or "don't know". The Stemwijzer than showed to which extent the voters agreed with each party, showing them from most to least similarity in answers, advising the voter to vote for the party which agreed with them most. ^[28] The Stemwijzer had also been made for General, European, Provincial and Municipal elections since 1989.

Kieskompas (Electoral Compass) was launched by the newspaper Trouw in cooperation with the VU University Amsterdam in order to compete with the Stemwijzer. The Electoral Compass is a voting advice website Visitors can use the application to discover their position in the political landscape for upcoming elections Trouw is a Dutch daily Newspaper. Trouw is a Dutch word meaning "fidelity" (cognate of the English "trow" The VU University Amsterdam (in Dutch Vrije Universiteit, literal translation is "Free University" is a University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands This system was supposed to give considerably more information. Here voters could show their support for thirty six propositions on a five-point scale. Next they show whether they thought the current cabinet had performed well. Finally Kieskompas showed users their attitude towards party leaders as competent and trustworthy. The voters were shown a two-axis system (similar to a Nolan Chart) and their own position as well as the position of each party in this chart. The Nolan Chart is a political diagram popularized by the American libertarian David Nolan. It stated which party was the closest to them and which party the farthest. It also gave them the possibility to see which coalition best matched their political preferences. ^[29]

Other voting tools where the "Wie Kies Jij?" (the "Who do You Vote for") of the IPP which helped find the perfect candidate by his/her age, sex, dietary habits and political experience^[30] and the Stomwijzer (the "Stupid Pointer") which mocked the StemWijzer, but still gave reasonable voting advice^[31]

De Stemming 2006

Comedian Freek de Jonge performed an 'election show' ('verkiezingsconference') on public television on the night before the elections. Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring Comedy, Song, Dance, and Theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue &mdash a Restaurant Frederik Jan Georg "Freek" de Jonge (born 30 August 1944) is a Dutch Cabaret performer It was called "De Stemming 2006" (an ambiguous name which means both "The Vote 2006" and "The Mood 2006") In his ironic comedy show, which was totally focused on the elections, he ridiculed the candidates, making such a show a uniquely Dutch phenomenon. When asked whether this show would influence the upcoming elections de Jonge stated he would make a fool out of everyone, not favoring a single person. This was the second time he did such a show. The first one was in 2003, when it was the thirty-third best watched tv-programme in the Netherlands that year. ^[32] This year, the show was watched by 2,016,000 viewers. ^[33]

Voting issues

Voting machine controversy

Main article: Electronic voting#Netherlands

In some municipalities voting was done using the old red pencil / paper method. Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is a term encompassing several different types of Voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic

A report by action group Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet (We don't trust voting computers) details serious security flaws in the Nedap voting machines used in the election. Nedap (NV Nederlandsche Apparatenfabriek is a Netherlands based company Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical electromechanical or electronic equipment (including Software, Firmware, and documentation required to program The report was made public; it was described by the national TV program EenVandaag. EénVandaag ("OneToday" is a Current affairs programme broadcast on the Nederland 1 channel of Dutch public television ^[34][35] It proved to be surprisingly easy to open the case of the voting machines. The inner casing around the electronics was only protected by a very simple lock. Thus replacements of software and even hardware were relatively easily possible (by a simple memory chip swap, meaning that the memory that holds the voting data is not encrypted). Voting machines manufactured by Nedap cover 90% of the voters in the Netherlands. Nedap (NV Nederlandsche Apparatenfabriek is a Netherlands based company Another machine is made by SDU and called "NewVote". It is based on a PC and uses a touchscreen instead of buttons. Both systems lack a paper trail, thus, when doubting the outcome a non-electronic recount is not possible. Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT or Verified Paper Record (VPR is intended as an independent verification system for Voting machines designed to allow voters Only ten small districts still use paper and pencil.

Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet has threatened to bring minister Atzo Nicolaï to court since they are not convinced by his assurances that there will be no fraud in the upcoming election. Atzo Nicolaï (born 22 February 1960 in Delft) is a Dutch Politician and was Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations ^[36] In response to the allegations, Nicolaï introduced new security measures for the voting machines. ^[37] Currently Nedap is checking all its machines for tampering, is installing new chips and software that is less easily hacked, and seals the machines with a unique metal seal. ^[38] Based on inspections, on October 30^th the government decided that there was a problem with SDU voting machines, due to the fact that within a radius of 10 metres the machines could be wirelessly monitored, so that these machines could not guarantee anonymity of voting to a sufficient degree. ^[39] These machines, which are in use in 35 municipalities, including Amsterdam, have to be improved or replaced with an alternative before the elections. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west ^[40] Many municipalities, including Amsterdam, decided to switch to the traditional pen and red pencil method of voting instead of the SDU machines. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west ^[39] Machines made by Nedap are still in use. Nedap (NV Nederlandsche Apparatenfabriek is a Netherlands based company

Experiments

Two experiments were conducted during these elections:

"Stemmen in een Willekeurig Stemlokaal" (SWS) ('voting in a random polling-booth') Because a lot of people could not vote because of problems caused by this experiment a group of citizens started procedures to nullify the results in all 311 area's where the experiment was conducted.

Another experiment is "Kiezen Op Afstand" (KOA) ('remote voting'), also called the experiment with internetstemmen (internet voting). ^[41]

In an experiment in Breukelen, a voting machine was placed in a tank station. Breukelen is a municipality and town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. However, non-Breukelen citizens had to convert their 'voting pass' ('stempas') to an 'elector's pass' ('kiezerspas').

Public debates

More than during previous elections, there was a strong focus on the leaders, especially Bos of PvdA and Balkenende of CDA, regarding who of the two might become prime minister. This irritated not only other parties but also analysts who complained that elections should be about issues and parties, not about who becomes prime minister.

Radio debate

The first public election debate between the leaders of the seven largest parties was held on October 29, 2006, on public radio. Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Public-service broadcasting in the Netherlands is provided jointly by a number of broadcasting organizations under the tutelage of NPO ( Netherlands Public Broadcasting, Dutch Nederlandse Mark Rutte, whose VVD is junior partner in the third Balkenende cabinet of CDA prime-minister Jan Peter Balkenende, was worried that the CDA will choose for a coalition with the PvdA after the elections, as this, at the time of the debate, was the only two-party coalition possible according to polls. Mark Rutte (born February 14, 1967 in The Hague, Zuid-Holland) is a Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD Jan Peter Balkenende (pronounced ˈjɑn ˈpetər ˈbɑɫkənɛndə) (born 7 May 1956 is a Christian Democratic politician who has been the Prime Minister of the Balkenende, however, kept his options open, and did not rule out a coalition with the PvdA. The PvdA's Wouter Bos stated that he will not become a deputy prime-minister in case Balkenende leads a CDA-PvdA coalition. He will then remain as chairman of the parliamentary party. ^[42]

RTL 4 debate

This debate took place on November 3, 2006 and was televised by RTL4. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. RTL 4 is a commercial television station in the Netherlands. It is one of the biggest commercial television stations in the country popular especially with those aged between Participants were Jan Peter Balkenende and Wouter Bos. Jan Peter Balkenende (pronounced ˈjɑn ˈpetər ˈbɑɫkənɛndə) (born 7 May 1956 is a Christian Democratic politician who has been the Prime Minister of the Drs Wouter Jacob Bos (born 14 July 1963 in Vlaardingen) is the Dutch Minister of Finance and deputy prime minister Balkenende focused on his achievements the last four years, stating "We are much better off than four years ago. We were behind in Europe and now we’re ahead but our work is not yet done. "^[43] Bos felt that under Balkenende the gap between rich and poor had grown, stating "What have you asked of the wealthiest? Everybody has been asked to dig into their pockets to contribute to the economy. "^[43] In an opinion poll conducted by TNS-Nipo following the televised debate, 50 percent of respondents thought Wouter Bos won the debate, against 46 percent for Jan Peter Balkenende. An opinion poll is a survey of Public opinion from a particular sample. ^[44]

NOS Jeugdjournaal debate

This debate was broadcast on November 11, 2006 and was televised by the Jeugdjournaal (YouthNews) of the NOS. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Jeugdjournaal (Youth Journal is a Dutch television news programme produced by the Dutch public service broadcaster NOS for children The Nederlandse Omroep Stichting ( NOS, Dutch Broadcasting Foundation) is one of the broadcasters in the Dutch Public broadcasting system Nederlandse The debate was aimed at children from 8 to 14 years of age. Participants were top-candidates from the four parties leading the polls: Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA), Wouter Bos (PvdA), Mark Rutte (VVD) and Jan Marijnissen (SP). ^[45] A poll among the young watchers after the debate showed that the Dutch children preferred Wouter Bos as the next prime minister (46%), before Marijnissen (26%), Balkenende (22%) and Mark Rutte (6%). ^[46]

EenVandaag debate

This debate took place on November 15, 2006 and was organised by EenVandaag. Events 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. EénVandaag ("OneToday" is a Current affairs programme broadcast on the Nederland 1 channel of Dutch public television Participants were Jan-Peter Balkenende, Wouter Bos, Mark Rutte, Jan Marijnissen , Femke Halsema and André Rouvoet. ^[47] According to an opinion poll following the debate, Jan Marijnissen won the debate. ^[48]

NOS debates

• 21 November (NOS): two consecutive debates; the first between the leaders of the smaller parties in the polls, the second between leaders of the projected six largests parties:^[49]
  • Alexander Pechtold (D66), Bas van der Vlies (SGP), Olaf Stuger (List Pim Fortuyn), Marco Pastors (One NL), Geert Wilders (PVV) and Marianne Thieme (Partij voor de Dieren), at 19:05
  • Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA), Wouter Bos (PvdA), Mark Rutte (VVD), Jan Marijnissen (SP), Femke Halsema (GreenLeft) and André Rouvoet (ChristenUnie) at 20:30. Alexander Pechtold (born December 16 1965) is a Dutch Politician. Democrats 66 ( D66, Democraten 66 official name Politieke Partij Democraten 66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and Bastiaan Johannis "Bas" van der Vlies (born June 29 1942, Sliedrecht) is a Dutch Politician. The Political Reformed Party ( Dutch: Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. Olaf Frederik Stuger ( Driebergen, May 3, 1969) is a Dutch Politician. Pim Fortuyn List ( Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF is a defunct Political party in the Netherlands. Marco Pastors (born September 10, 1965 in Beneden-Leeuwen, Gelderland) is a Dutch Politician. Eén NL (One NL is a Dutch Political party founded in September 2006 Geert Wilders ('xert 'ʋildərs 'ʋildəʁs}} born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch Politician. The Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV) is a Dutch conservative political party Marianne Louise Thieme ( Ede, March 6 1972) is a Dutch politician, animal activist and publicist The Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren is a Political party in the Netherlands with two out of the one hundred and fifty seats in parliament. Jan Peter Balkenende (pronounced ˈjɑn ˈpetər ˈbɑɫkənɛndə) (born 7 May 1956 is a Christian Democratic politician who has been the Prime Minister of the The Christian Democratic Appeal ( CDA) (Christen Democratisch Appèl is a Dutch Christian-democratic Political party. Drs Wouter Jacob Bos (born 14 July 1963 in Vlaardingen) is the Dutch Minister of Finance and deputy prime minister Mark Rutte (born February 14, 1967 in The Hague, Zuid-Holland) is a Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( VVD) (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie is a Dutch liberal Political party. Johannes Guillaume Christianus Andreas "Jan" Marijnissen ( (born 8 October 1952) is a Dutch Politician. The Socialist Party ( SP, Dutch: Socialistische Partij) is a Dutch socialist Political party. (born April 25, 1966) is Dutch Politician. She is a member of the Tweede Kamer since 1998 GroenLinks ( GL, English: GreenLeft) is a Dutch Green Political party. André Rouvoet (born January 4, 1962) is a Dutch politician currently serving as Minister of Youth and Family and Deputy Prime Minister of the This article is about the Dutch political party See Christian Union (students (with space between the two words for the university religious organization and Christian

Results

National summary

Final election result, number of seats per party in the Second Chamber

Turnout

As voting has been voluntary in the Netherlands since the elections of 1971, not all voters exercise their right to vote. Parliamentary elections tend to draw between 70% and 90% turnout; the 2006 election drew a turnout of 80. 1%.

Of the estimated 600,000 Dutch citizens living abroad (about 5% of all eligible voters), who have to register to be allowed to cast their vote, only 30,000 (about 5%) registered. Due to this low rate of registration, votes of the Dutch living abroad will have a negligible effect on the outcome of the elections.

Seat allocation

There are two things to note about the allocation to seats: first the division of remainder seats and second the MPs elected because of preference seats.

The Netherlands uses a D'Hondt method to allocate remainder seats. The D'Hondt method (mathematically but not operationally equivalent to Jefferson's method, and Bader-Ofer method) is a Highest averages method for In order to get more of these seats two combined lists were formed. In the distribution of these seats the Socialist Party and the GreenLeft formed one block, as did the Christian Union and the SGP. The GreenLeft-SP alliance got one rest seat, the CDA got two, the PvdA got two, D66 got one and the PVV also got one. This means that these parties are slightly overrepresented in parliament.

With the Dutch system of open list proportional representation, voters may indicate their preference for a particular candidate on a party's list. Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes Usually the vast majority of people vote for the top candidate, however this is not always the case.

In this election the number two candidate on the VVD list, Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk received a greater number of preference votes (620,555) than the party's lijsttrekker Mark Rutte (553,200). The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( VVD) (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie is a Dutch liberal Political party. Drs Maria Cornelia Frederika ("Rita" Verdonk (born 18 October 1955) is a Dutch Politician who was minister for Immigration Mark Rutte (born February 14, 1967 in The Hague, Zuid-Holland) is a Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD This was attributed to her greater national profile. ^[50]

Also, the number six candidate on the D66 list, Fatma Koser Kaya received the second highest number of D66 preferences (34,564), second only to lijsttrekker Alexander Pechtold (95,937). Alexander Pechtold (born December 16 1965) is a Dutch Politician.

This resulted from the CDA and PvdA removing candidates of Turkish origin from their lists because of their position on the Armenian Genocide of 1915-17. The Christian Democratic Appeal ( CDA) (Christen Democratisch Appèl is a Dutch Christian-democratic Political party. As a result the influential Turks Forum advised voters of Turkish origin to vote for Koser Kaya, who is of Turkish origin, although her position on the genocide is ambiguous. ^[51]

Any candidate reaching the quota (16,397 votes in this election) is elected, taking preference over other candidates on the list. This means Koser Kaya is elected, despite being at number six on the list. D66 will receive only three seats, according to its share of the national vote.

Opinion polls

Largest party per municipality:. In the Dutch system this is of limited importance as it operates a one-man-one-vote system.
     CDA     PvdA     SP     VVD

In the Netherlands there are three agencies that conduct frequent polls throughout the year (usually weekly). There is usually a small difference which may be due to different sampling and surveying methods applied. From November 1st the 'Politieke Barometer' started with two polls each week, and from November 13th they increased the frequency to daily polls.

The last polls prior to the election of the Politieke Barometer,^[2] the poll by NOVA and Interview-NSS, the TNS-NIPO polls by RTL4,^[3] and the poll by Maurice de Honds' peil. nl^[4] yield the following results:

The day before the elections, about one third of the electorate had not yet made up their minds, resulting in polls giving strongly varying results. For this reason campaigning continued on election day itself. An aspect of this was tactical voting, with SP telling PvdA voters that a strong SP would force PvdA to form a left-wing coalition, VVD saying something similar to CDA voters concerning a right-wing coalition, PvdA and CDA saying they need to be strong to prevent the other party from forming or dominating a coalition and ChristenUnie saying it has the best cards to participate in any coalition. Shortly before the elections, PvdA leader Bos showed himself more interested in the much talked about left-wing coalition of PvdA, SP and GroenLinks (possibly with ChristenUnie), which he had refused to talk about for months. Many suspected he changed his mind to stop the exodus of PvdA voters to SP. During the municipal elections earlier that year PvdA grew strong and after that they even grew to 60 seats in the polls, but after March a gradual decline had set in, almost halving the size of PvdA in the polls.

Cabinet formation

Main articles: 2006-2007 Dutch cabinet formation and Fourth cabinet Balkenende

Since no party holds an absolute majority in the Tweede Kamer, the formation of a coalition government that consists of parties whose combined fractions can propose laws that can count on a majority in the Second Chamber was necessary. The Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV) is a Dutch conservative political party Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started involving negotiations about which coalition partners This is most commonly achieved by building a coalition that has a majority; although a minority cabinet that arranges ad-hoc majorities for its proposals is possible. With the 2006 results a majority coalition requires at least three parties.

Initially, negotiations for a cabinet of CDA, PvdA and SP were started, but the parties seemed unwilling to form this cabinet. Later on, negotiations for a CDA-PvdA-ChristenUnie cabinet were started. This resulted in the formation of the Fourth cabinet Balkenende. It was installed by Queen Beatrix on February 22, 2007. Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne In the meantime the Balkenende III cabinet continued as a caretaker cabinet, which is not supposed to make new policy. In Politics, a caretaker government rules temporarily A caretaker government is often set up following a War until stable Democratic rule can be restored

Reactions

In the final debate between the leaders of the major parties (CDA, PvdA, SP, VVD, PVV, GL and CU) it was pointed out that the seated government lost 9 seats and the left wing parties (PdvA, SP, GL, PvdD) won 8 seats, which was interpreted as a signal from the voters that government policy should be more social. On the right, the PVV gained 9 seats, but other parties are silent about a possible coalition with the PVV. In the debate between party leaders — after the election was over — the question was raised if any of the leaders would want a coalition with the PVV. All kept quiet. When Wilders called this a "cordon sanitaire," VVD leader Rutte responded fiercely, saying that "there is no cordon sanitaire. Cordon sanitaire is a French phrase that literally translated means Quarantine line " Rutte believes the PVV is a "one-issue party," but also pointed out that he did not exclude the PVV as coalition partner. ^[52]

When asked about the possibility of a CDA-PvdA-CU coalition, PvdA leader Bos responded that during the campaign the differences between CDA and PvdA have turned out to be rather big and that the big winner SP also deserves a place at the negotiating table. SP leader Marijnissen responded to this that the SP had never excluded CDA as a coalition partner, but that the CDA of the previous cabinet is not one with which the SP can enter a coalition. That, combined with the program of the CDA and the list of CDA MPs would constitute many 'road bumps' and 'bears on the road', and said he did not really want to start a coalition with this CDA program and this CDA MP list. Prime minister Balkenende responded that the CDA he wanted does not exist and that he has to enter talks with the CDA as it is now. ^[53]

Marco Pastors' One NL was defeated by PVV even in his home town Rotterdam, where he had had a landslide victory at the 2002 municipal elections with his Leefbaar Rotterdam. Marco Pastors (born September 10, 1965 in Beneden-Leeuwen, Gelderland) is a Dutch Politician. Eén NL (One NL is a Dutch Political party founded in September 2006 The Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid PVV) is a Dutch conservative political party Rotterdam (pronounced) is the 2nd-largest City by population in the Netherlands, located in the province of Livable Rotterdam ( Leefbaar Rotterdam) is a political party in the large Dutch city of Rotterdam. Pastors, who himself had compared the present situation in the Netherlands with pre-war Germany, said that Wilders is too extreme for his taste, such as when speaking of a 'Tsunami of Islamisation'. A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when Islamization (also spelt Islamisation, see Spelling differences) or Islamification means the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam He didn't want to follow him in this extremism. "I would have done myself injustice".

Trivia

• The OSCE/ODIHR has deployed an election assessment mission to the Netherlands.
• The CDA party congress was ended by Roger Glover's song "Love is All". Roger David Glover (born November 30, 1945 in Brecon, Wales) is a Welsh / English Bassist, Keyboardist The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast is a Concept album and subsequent live Rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively
• The PvdA party congress was ended by the Marco Borsato song "Rood" (Red). Marco Roberto Borsato (born December 21, 1966) is a popular Dutch Singer, previously performing in Italian only to be recognised
• The VVD party congress was ended by Mick Jagger song "Let's Work". Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger, Kt (born 26 July 1943 is a Golden Globe -winning and two-time Grammy -winning English rock
• Filemon Wesselink, presenter of the (political) television program Lijst-0 for the youth channel BNN, was elected #30 on the D66 candidate list. A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Democrats 66 ( D66, Democraten 66 official name Politieke Partij Democraten 66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and Wesselink tried in the program to become a candidate for various political parties, secretly taping each party's interview process. Although a candidate for D66, Wesselink withdrew himself from the list.
• The municipality of Schiermonnikoog was able to tally its result first. Schiermonnikoog ( Skiermûntseach is an Island, a Municipality, and a National park in the northern Netherlands. ^[54]
• When PvdA leader Wouter Bos wanted to vote he couldn't because the PvdA had converted his 'stempas' to a 'kiezerspas', making it possible for him to vote anywhere in the country, but it also meant he could no longer use his 'stempas'. He didn't know about this, which resulted in an unpleasant surprise, after which he had to go and collect his new 'kiezerspas' in order to vote.
• In the hamlet Marle, with the smallest voting bureau in the Netherlands—housed in the living room of a farm and with an electorate of 51, 55 people voted, giving it a turnout of 108%. This was made possible by a the 'stempas' (mobile voting card), which allows people to vote at any voting booth within their municipality. ^[55]

See also

• Dutch municipal elections, 2006

Further reading

• van Holsteyn, Joop J. The Dutch municipal elections of 2006 were held on March 7 2006. M. (November 2007). "The Dutch Parliamentary Elections of 2006". West European Politics 30 (5): 1139–1147.  

References

External links

• Dutch Electoral Council
• "We don't trust voting computers" action group