In about a fortnight, on 9th June, the Dutch will go to the polls to elect a new national government. The coalition government collapsed in February over the vexed issue of extending the Dutch troop deployment to the NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan.

After marathon talks, lasting sixteen hours, The PvdA (Dutch Labour Party) quit the Dutch government citing ‘irreconcilable differences’. The prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, from the CDA (Christian Democrats) said, “where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together.”

The Dutch mission started in 2006 and some 2000 Dutch troops are in Afghanistan under the ISAF mission. They will start withdrawing from Uruzgan province in August and it will be completed by the end of the year. A total of 24 Dutch troops have been killed and 43 wounded since the mission began.

During the past few months, politicians from every party have been buy campaigning. Voting is not compulsory and voter turnout is usually between 75%-80%. In the last national elections in 2006 close to 9.9 million (80.4%) eligible Dutch citizens exercised their democratic rights.

In a time of global economic uncertainty (or stupidity), it is not surprising that the economy features as a major issue in the election. The Dutch deficit and how the various parties intend on responding to it have been hotly debated. A few days ago, the Centraal Planbureau (Dutch Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) and the Planbureau voor de Leefomeving (Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency) released their report, ‘Charted Choices 2011-2015 – Effects of nine election platforms on the economy and the environment’. The report ‘presents the impact of party programs on public finances, purchasing power and employment’.

Though a basic overview of all parties, and an introduction to the party leaders can be found on the NRC Handelsblad and DutchNews.nl, I thought it would be interesting to compare the main policies of the major contenders. I have omitted the smaller parties and just focused on the front runners. Thanks to my friends Hugo van Haastert and Luit ten Kate for their help on this. I hope I have done justice to the parties and their polices.

For the Dutch (and non-Dutch) who want to see where their political convictions and preferences lie, try the Kieskompas. (Update 8 June 2010: Thanks to Luit, here is an English version called VoteMatch).

Democracy is about participation. It is not for spectators. I wish I could vote on 9 June, but I must wait till I am a citizen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (doubt it will happen anytime soon!). I look forward to seeing the results. Which should be interesting. Let me know your thoughts on the below.

Photos: Binnenhof photo courtesy of Kim Vermaat. Party logos from NRC Handelsblad.

Party: Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD)

Political Position:
Liberal, Free Market, Centre-Right.

Party History: Founded in 1948 as a continuation of the Partij van de Vrijheid (PvdV: Freedom Party) on free-market liberal values.

Leader: Mark Rutte.

Economy (Spending cuts by 2015): Commitment to an open economy, with a regulated free-market. Have proposed drastic short-term cuts. (€20 Bn).

Taxes & Social Security: Reduce income tax and corporate tax with 1% across the board. Welfare to 1 year maximum, tie welfare to inflation.

Immigration & Citizenship: Wants to reduce immigration and put an end to low-skilled immigration. Family reunification should be restricted.

Electoral Reform: Favours directly elected mayors. Sharp cut in number of MPs, ministers and civil servants.

Education: Invest €2.5 Bn in education and close weak schools more quickly. Replace student grants with a social loan system.

Housing Policy: Reduce tax on buying a house. No changes to the hypotheekrenteaftrek (mortgage interest deductibility). Liberalise housing market (rent segment).

Foreign Policy & European Union: Cut EU and Development Aid budget by half. Supports a common European Union policy on defence and security.

Changes to Pension Age: 67, increased by two months a year.

Human Rights & Civil Liberties: Believes that euthanasia is part of a person’s ‘right’ to self-determination. Social security only open for Dutch nationals. Reduce public disturbances by coffeeshops.

Environment: Wants to allow a second nuclear power station to be built. Cut sustainability subsidies. No tax on the use of cars (kilometerheffing).

Party: Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA)

Political Position: Labour, Centre-Left.

Party History: Founded in 1946 out of the merger of three parties; Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij, Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond and Christelijk-Democratische Unie.

Leader: Job Cohen.

Economy (Spending cuts by 2015): Committed to a centre-left ideology. Wants to cut €10 Bn in new parliament and €20 Bn in next term. (€10 Bn).

Taxes & Social Security: Introduce new top tariff of 60% and reduce taxes on low incomes. Tie welfare to wages and maintain current system.

Immigration & Citizenship: Wants to make family reunification easier. Cohen is famous for the phrase ‘De boelbij elkaar houden’ (striving for an undivided nation).

Electoral Reform: Reform the electoral system and have mayors elected by municipal councils. Binding corrective referendum and reduce number of provinces.

Education: Wants to exchange student grants for student loans. Favours teachers to be adequately qualified and an increase in their salaries. Favours social student loan.

Housing Policy: Gradually reduce hypotheekrenteaftrek. No liberalisation of housing market, but raise rent for high earners in social housing.

Foreign Policy & European Union: Reduce Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) spending. Cut spending by €1 Bn on armed forces and maintain Developmental Aid budget at 0.8% of GDP.

Changes to Pension Age: 67 raise in two stages by 2025.

Human Rights & Civil Liberties: Legalise soft drugs, review anti-terror legislation.

Environment: No to nuclear power. Ambitious green agenda and supports the kilometerheffing.

Party: Democraten 66 (D66)

Political Position: Liberal, Centre-Left.

Party History: Founded in 1966 as a reaction to the denominationally segregated power politics of the day. A party for left-leaning but not quite socialist intellectuals.

Leader: Alexander Pechtold.

Economy (Spending cuts by 2015): Social-liberals who favour a mixed economy. Want to reform the economy drastically to improve sustainability in the long term. (€15 Bn).

Taxes & Social Security: Reduce income tax for low incomes and limit welfare to 1 year max. Shift taxes from labour to pollution. Make it easier to fire workers.

Immigration & Citizenship: Wants to introduce an immigration policy along the lines of the US Green Card system to attract knowledge migrants. Pechtold opposed Wilders most vocally and calls for a tolerant society.

Electoral Reform: Favours binding referendum, abolition of Eerste Kamer (Senate) and direct election of prime ministers and mayors. Reform the electoral system and reduce number of provinces.

Education: Increase spending on education (€2.5 Bn) and innovation. Increase in teachers’ salaries. Wants sector to be deregulated and introduce more competition. Favours social student loan.

Housing Policy: Gradually reduce hypotheekrenteaftrek. No liberalisation of housing market, but raise rent for high earners in social housing.

Foreign Policy & European Union: Favours a Federal Europe and European cooperation on the environment, immigration and foreign policy.

Changes to Pension Age: Fast increase to 67.

Human Rights & Civil Liberties: Previously introduced several liberal reforms: legalisation of euthanasia, gay marriage and prostitution. Review anti-terror legislation in light of civil liberties. Legalise soft drugs.

Environment: More investment in sustainable energy. Favours nuclear power under certain conditions. Supports the kilometerheffing.

Party: Christen Democratisch Appel (CDA)

Political Position: Christian Democrats, Centre-Right.

Party History: Founded in 1980 from the merger of three Christian parties; Christelijk Historische Unie, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij and Katholieke Volkspartij.

Leader: Jan Peter Balkenende.

Economy (Spending cuts by 2015): Fiscally conservative and believes State deficit should be repaid in one generation to cope with the effects of the ageing population.(€18 Bn).

Taxes & Social Security: Reduce income tax and limit welfare to 1 year.

Immigration & Citizenship: Favours the speedier deportation of foreign criminals. Favors the integration of minorities into Dutch culture.

Electoral Reform: Opposes most democratic reforms. Proposes to merge water boards (waterschappen) and provinces.

Education: Favours Spending increase for education sector, and wants to make schools more responsible for their own policy rather than being regulated by the government. Opposes social student loan.

Housing Policy: No change to hypotheekrenteaftrek. Raise rent for high earners in social housing.

Foreign Policy & European Union: In favour of European integration and the possible membership of Turkey in the EU. Support CAP in current form and wishes to buy the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Jet.

Changes to Pension Age: 67, increased in three stages by 2027.

Human Rights & Civil Liberties: Favours an end to the toleration of soft drugs and the limitation of prostitution, abortion and euthanasia.

Environment: Committed to the preservation of the environment, based on the doctrine of rentmeesterschap (stewardship). Though the party is not considered to be ‘green’. Supports nuclear power and opposes the kilometerheffing.

Party: Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV)

Political Position: Right, Populist.

Party History: Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders’s one-man party in the Tweede Kamer (Lower House).

Leader: Geert Wilders.

Economy (Spending cuts by 2015): Quasi-Economic-liberal philosophy. (€16 Bn).

Taxes & Social Security: Does not want to make it easier to fire people.

Immigration & Citizenship: Opposes further immigration from Muslim countries. Favours deportation of foreigners and stripping dual nationals of Dutch citizenship if they commit a crime.

Electoral Reform: Introduce binding referendum, abolish the Eerste Kamer (Senate), direct election of the prime minister, 20% less civil servants and remove the Netherlands Antilles from the Kingdom.

Education: Favours closure of all Islamic schools. Opposes social student loan system.

Housing Policy: No change to hypotheekrenteaftrek and rent subsidy for low-income earners (huurtoeslag).

Foreign Policy & European Union: Eurosceptic and opposes further expansion of EU. Wants to stop work permits for Poles, Bulgarians and Romanians. Oppose JSF purchase, wishes to withdraw from several treaties and want to drastically cut Foreign Aid.

Changes to Pension Age: 65, favours no change to the pension age.

Human Rights & Civil Liberties: Wants to ban the building of new mosques, the burqa, the Koran, introduction of a tax on headscarves. Withdraw from international treaties that conflict with these aims.

Environment: Cut climate subsidies. More nuclear power and opposition to kilometerheffing.