Forum voor Democratie

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Forum voor Democratie Full Name: Forum voor Democratie Origin: The Netherlands headquarters Amsterdam Commanders: Thierry Baudet Goals: Destroy the mainstream parties (the so-called 'partijkartel' (ongoing) Leave the European Union (ongoing) Make racism and antisemitism mainstream (ongoing) Destroy George Soros (ongoing) Crimes: Xenophobia Racism Propaganda Anti-Semitism Authoritarianism COVID denialism Antivaxxing Transphobia Homophobia Anti-European Sentiment Type of Villain: Racists and antisemites

Forum voor Democratie (English: for Democracy) is a far right Dutch political party, founded by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016.

History

The FvD was established as a think tank whose main feat was campaigning in the 2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum against the EU in general.

In September 2016, it converted itself into a political party and announced its intention to take part in the 2017 general election, where the FvD ended up with 1.8% of the vote and 2 seats, entering parliament for the first time. In February 2019, the FvD had nearly 31,000 members.

In February 2018, the party suffered from internal issues with a number of prominent members leaving the party because they felt the party had a lack of internal democracy.

In the 2018 municipal elections, the FvD won three seats on the Amsterdam city council.Template:Citation needed The party only stood in Amsterdam. In Rotterdam however it endorsed the Livable Rotterdam party. During the 2019 provincial elections, Forum for Democracy won 86 seats, spread across the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. In South Holland, North Holland, and Flevoland, FvD became the largest party, winning 11, 9 and 8 seats respectively. In all other provinces, the party came either second or third in terms of numbers of votes. As populists, the bulk of the Forum's nominated parliamentary candidates did not have prior active experience in other political parties.

On 30 April 2020, Forum for Democracy formed a coalition with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in the North Brabant province, the first time the party had formally entered into the administration of a regional authority. In late 2020, former VVD MP Wybren van Haga defected to the party. Van Haga left FVD six months after that.

In April and November 2020, the party became split following a series of controversies related to members of the FvD's youth wing making comments that were deemed to contain racism and homophobia. Baudet was also accused of endorsing antisemitic conspiracies, something he denied. This led to calls for Baudet to be removed as FvD leader and he temporarily stepped down. In December 2020, it was announced that Baudet had returned as party leader and would lead the FvD into the 2021 Dutch general election.

At the 2021 general election, the party campaigned against COVID-19 lockdown measures imposed by the Dutch government and managed to win eight MPs. Also, the issue of racist comments from youth members was brought up again as proof of these comments surfaced. One of the accused youth members, Gideon van Meijeren, was elected into parliament, as was youth wing chairman Freek Jansen.

In May 2021, three of the FvD MPs (Van Haga, Hans Smolders and Olaf Ephraim) left the party to sit as independents in response to the FvD releasing a poster comparing the lockdown to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

In 2022, the FvD regained representation in the European Parliament when Marcel de Graaff defected to the party. As a result, the FvD became a member of the Identity and Democracy group instead of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). There are some reportsTemplate:Which that FvD was expelled from ECR in 2021, despite FvD displaying ECR on its own website.Template:Citation needed In March 2022, two of the party's Senators (Frentrop and Hiddema) resigned to sit as independents.

Ideology and political positions

The FvD has been described as ideologically national conservative, conservative liberal, Eurosceptic, and right-wing populist. On its official platform, the FvD declares itself to be a movement rather than a party with a focus on protecting Dutch sovereignty, identity, and cultural and intellectual property. The party wants stricter immigration and integration policies, calling for the protection of high culture and "Judeo-Christian values". The FvD is also opposed to the integration of the European Union which it claims will lead to eventual Eurofederalism and supports a referendum on Dutch membership of EU. In the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, historian and philosopher Joseef Eanders has described the FvD as containing various factions, including members sympathetic to the ideas of Ayn Rand and Michel Houellebecq. The FvD has also been described as one of several comtemporary conservative-populist parties in the Netherlands that have been inspired by or inherited the mantle of the defunct Pim Fortuyn List.

The party initially focused on drawing support from former People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) voters who felt the VVD had grown too soft on the policy areas of European Union and immigration, but saw the Party for Freedom as too hardline, and tried recruiting candidates who came from professional rather than political backgrounds. The FvD has been accused of cultivating popularity among the alt-right movement, although the party does not identify itself as such.

In the European parliament, the FvD sat with the European Conservatives and Reformists group before joining Identity and Democracy in 2022.

Economy

FvD is a conservative-liberal party and supports economic liberalism. The party is a proponent of the introduction of a high tax-free bracket for everyone, the abolition of taxes on gifts and inheritance and a radical simplification of tax brackets. The party is a proponent of drastic changes in elementary and secondary education, focusing on performance evaluations for teachers. It wants to expand the armed forces, expanding the National Reserve Corps and reverting defense budget cuts.

Electoral reform

One of the major issues the party campaigns against is the perceived existence of a "party cartel" in which the main ruling parties of the country divide power among themselves and work towards the same goals despite claiming to be competitors. The party promises direct democracy through binding referenda as well as directly elected mayors and a directly elected Prime Minister. The party is also in favor of the government consisting of apolitical experts in their respective fields ("technocracy"), and top civil servants having to reapply for their positions whenever a new cabinet is formed.

Immigration and European Union

The party states that it supports protecting European civilization and wants free trade between European nations and the world but is opposed to the European Union (EU) and the Eurozone. The party calls for an immediate end to EU enlargement and for the Netherlands to use every veto possible to prevent the EU from becoming a Federal Superstate. It also supports referendums and Dutch withdrawal from the Eurozone and the Schengen agreement. FvD also wants a renegotiation of Dutch membership of the EU followed by a binding referendum on EU membership and an "intelligent exit" (Nexit) from the EU if it cannot be reformed and terms cannot be met.

The FvD also adopts a nationalist viewpoint in which the Dutch culture should be protected. The party is in favor of reinstating border controls and ending what it perceives as mass immigration. It also campaigns against unchecked immigration, says it would introduce a Dutch Values Protection Act. The party supports freedom of religion and calls for equal treatment of all citizens regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation, but is also against any further influence of Islamic culture on Dutch society, supports a crackdown on forced or child marriages and wants to ban Islamic face veils and other face coverings. The FvD also opposes foreign funding of Islamic schools and institutions, and argues that all schools in the Netherlands should subscribe to "Judeo-Christian values." FvD also states that immigrants who do not wish to integrate should be offered incentives to return to their native country and that whenever possible asylum seekers should be processed off Dutch soil.

Criminal justice

The party calls for a reform of the Dutch justice system, increased funding for the Dutch police force, tougher penalties against those convicted of violent crimes and where possible for non-naturalized immigrants found guilty of serious crimes to be deported and tried in their country of origin.

Environmental and social policies

FvD calls for a gradual legalization of soft drugs but also supports reducing the number of cannabis coffee shops within the vicinity of schools. The party also calls for a reduction in the use of plastic, more support for the agricultural economy, sustainable farming and tougher laws against animal cruelty. In the spring of 2019, the party, endorsing a climate change denialist platform, intensively campaigned against large state investments in renewable energy, leading to a victory in the provincial elections. Later that year, it also supported protests by Dutch farmers against enforcing legislation on nitrogen emissions.

Society and culture

FvD supports high culture. It argues for the protection of Dutch culture and "European classical music, art and knowledge." It is critical of modern architecture, calling for both new government buildings to be constructed in a neoclassical style and for city planning that "fits within a historical view." FvD also supports the establishment of a commission to protect historic monuments from destruction, wants Frysk to be retained as a second state language, calls for schools to teach about "beautiful things that the West has produced" and supports free museum admission for all Dutch citizens. However, the party has also promoted plans to defund and privatize the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, a Dutch public broadcasting organization.

Controversies

Since it became active in politics, FvD has sparked controversy, especially regarding allegations of racism against important FvD politicians, the FvD "left-wing indoctrination in education" hotline and whether or not the FvD is a far-right party. Many of these controversies surround party leader Baudet.

In April 2020, HP/De Tijd revealed instances of antisemitism, homophobia and glorification of Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant in online WhatsApp groups associated with FvD's youth wing. FvD later investigated these instances and discharged three members from the political party. Three additional members were also suspended. More similar messages were revealed in November by newspaper Het Parool which published an article about extremist comments made by members the party's youth organization.

In response, a committee of inquiry was set up with some FvD politicians such as Theo Hiddema arguing that the youth wing should be disbanded and others stating the FvD should follow the example of the Sweden Democrats by disassociating the youth-wing. Baudet also resigned as lijsttrekker and was temporarily replaced by Lennart van der Linden. The day after Baudet resigned as leader, vice-leader Theo Hiddema vacated his seat in the Tweede Kamer for "personal reasons," although some media outlets opined that it was due to controversies within the party. The following day, Senator Paul Cliteur also resigned from his position as Senate leader while remaining a member of the party. On 26 November 2020, FvD Senator Nicki Pouw-Verweij released a letter alleging multiple incidents during a dinner on 20 November, including Baudet making antisemitic statements claiming that the COVID-19 lockdowns were concocted by George Soros and lashing out at colleague Joost Eerdmans. Baudet denied the accusations.

In December 2020, Baudet reversed his actions and announced the party would hold a leadership contest. The FvD's board announced an internal referendum on whether to expel Baudet from the party and replace him with a new leader. This took place on 3 December 2020, with 76% of FvD members voting in favour of Baudet remaining in the party and he subsequently resumed his role as leader. In protest at the outcome, the FvD's three MEPs, seven of its Senators and some of its parliamentary candidates for the upcoming general election resigned to sit as independents before joining the JA21 party founded by former FvD members who had left due to the youth wing controversies.

Split-off parties

In August 2019, former FvD senator and founding member Henk Otten announced he had registered Group Otten (GO) as a new political party. GO currently has two seats in the Senate and one seat in the European Parliament which were taken up by former FvD members.

In 18 December 2020, former FvD parliamentary candidates Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga created JA21 to contest in the 2021 Dutch general election following what they felt was the FvD's poor handling of members of the youth wing who had made extremist statements and controversies related to Baudet. They were joined by the FvD's three MEPs and seven Senators.

Following the 2021 Dutch election, FvD MP Wybren van Haga founded Belang van Nederland and was joined by two former FvD MPs.