Forum for Democracy (Netherlands)

Forum for Democracy

Forum voor Democratie

Abbreviation| FvD
Leader| Thierry Baudet
Chairman| Thierry Baudet
Vice Chairman| Theo Hiddema
Secretary| Rob Rooken
Treasurer| Henk Otten
Leader in the House of Representatives| Thierry Baudet
Founder| Thierry Baudet
Founded| 22 September 2016
Headquarters| Herengracht 74
Amsterdam
Youth wing| Jongerenorganisatie Forum voor Democratie (JFVD)
Thinktank| Renaissance Instituut
Membership (2018)|  22,884[1]
Ideology| Dutch nationalism[2]
Conservatism[3][4]
National conservatism[5]
Conservative liberalism[6]
Euroscepticism[3][4]
Direct democracy[4][7][8]
E-democracy[9]
Political position| Right-wing[10][11]
European affiliation| None
International affiliation| None
European Parliament group| None
Colours|  Maroon
Seats in the Senate|

0 / 75

Seats in the House of Representatives|

2 / 150

States-Provincial|

0 / 570

Seats in the European Parliament|

0 / 26

Website
forumvoordemocratie.nl (in Dutch)

Forum for Democracy (Dutch: Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a national-conservative, eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands, founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet who has been the party's leader since 22 September 2016.

The party first participated in elections in the 2017 general election, winning two seats in the House of Representatives.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Ideology
* 2.1 Economy
* 2.2 Electoral reform
* 2.3 Immigration and EU
* 3 Election results
* 3.1 Parliament
* 3.2 Municipal
* 4 Party membership
* 5 Organization
* 5.1 Leadership
* 5.2 Party Board
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## History

Forum for Democracy was established as a think tank; its main feat was campaigning for the 2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum.[12] In September 2016, it converted itself into a political party and announced its intention to take part in the 2017 Dutch general election. In joining the democratic system, they hope to change the system.

In the 2017 general election, the FvD ended up with 1.8% of the vote and 2 seats, entering parliament for the first time.

In March 2017 the FvD had approximately 5,000 members. The bulk of the Forum's parliamental candidates did not have prior active experience in other political parties.[13][14] 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.[15]

In the 2018 municipal election, the FvD won 3 seats at the Amsterdam city council.

## Ideology

### Economy

The party is a proponent of the introduction of high tax free bracket for everyone, the abolition of taxes on gifts and inheritance and a radical simplification of tax brackets.[16][17] Additionally, the party is in favour of promoting environmental sustainability and innovation through tax cuts for renewable energy, the sharing economy and organic agriculture,[18] as well as investments in digital infrastructure and reduction of regulation while ensuring privacy.[19][20] The party is a proponent of drastic changes in elementary and secondary education, focusing on performance evaluations for teachers.[21] They want to expand the armed forces, expanding the National Reserve Corps and reverting defence budget cuts.[22] In addition, the party has promoted plans to privatize the Dutch public broadcasting organisation, the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep.[23]

### Electoral reform

Theo Hiddema, speaking to the press

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 conspire towards the same goals, despite claiming to be competitors.[12] The party promises direct democracy through binding referenda,[13] as well as directly elected mayors and a directly elected Prime Minister.[24][25] The party is also in favour of the government consisting of apolitical experts, and top civil servants having to reapply for their positions when a new cabinet is formed.[26]

### Immigration and EU

The party opposes the European Union and campaigns for a referendum on Dutch E.U. membership. It also adopts a nationalist viewpoint in which the Dutch culture should be protected;[2] the party is in favor of reinstating border controls and ending what it perceives as mass immigration.[27][28] It campaigns against unchecked immigration, and says it would introduce a "Dutch Values Protection Act" and wants to ban Islamic face veils and other face coverings.[29]

## Election results

### Parliament

Election  | Votes  | %  | Rank  | Seats  | +/–  | Government

|
|
|
|
|
|

2017  | 187,162  | 1.8  | #13  |

2 / 150

|  2  | in opposition

### Municipal

Election  | Municipality  | Votes  | %  | Rank  | Seats  | +/-

|
|
|
|
|
|

2018  | Amsterdam | 20,015  | 5.77  | #8  |

3 / 45

| New

## Party membership

Year | Membership[30]

|

2017 | 1,863
2018 | 22,884

## Organization

### Leadership

* Leaders
* Thierry Baudet (22 September 2016 – )

* Chairmen
* Thierry Baudet (22 September 2016 – 17 January 2017; 25 November 2017 -)
* Paul Frentrop (interim) (17 January 2017 – 24 November 2017)

* Vice Chairmen
* Theo Hiddema (17 January 2017 – )

|
|

* Leaders in the House of Representatives
* Thierry Baudet (23 March 2017 – )

* Lijsttrekker – General election
* Thierry Baudet – 2017

|

### Party Board

* Chairman
* Thierry Baudet
* Secretary
* Rob Rooken
* Treasurer
* Henk Otten
* Communication and Campaign Affairs
* Jeroen de Vries

|

## References

1. ↑ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2016, 2017 en 2018" (in Dutch). https://dnpprepo.ub.rug.nl/11137/1/lt_per01012018.pdf. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Leonid Bershidsky (22 February 2017). "The Dutch Election Is About More Than Nationalism". https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-22/the-dutch-election-is-about-more-than-nationalism.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Dutch Election Is About More Than Nationalism". Bloomberg. 22 February 2017. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-22/the-dutch-election-is-about-more-than-nationalism. ""The Forum for Democracy (FvD) has a curious history. Baudet, a well-regarded legal scholar and political philosopher, set it up in 2015 as a conservative, euroskeptic think tank""
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Wat is Forum voor Democratie?". NPO Focus. https://npofocus.nl/artikel/7583/wat-is-forum-voor-democratie-. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
5. ↑ "Dutch Local Election Candidate: 'Current EU is a Monster, It's Undemocratic'". Sputnik. 20 March 2018. https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201803201062724207-dutch-local-election-candidate-eu-monster/.
6. ↑ "Tussen de Tocqueville en Spengler: het Forum voor Democratie op de tweesprong". Montesqieu Institute. 30 April 2018. https://www.montesquieu-instituut.nl/id/vkntfeom14s2/nieuws/tussen_de_tocqueville_en_spengler_het.
7. ↑ "Anti-EU boy wonder breezes in as Dutch election kingmaker". The Times. 29 January 2017. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anti-eu-boy-wonder-breezes-in-as-dutch-election-kingmaker-9p8n0sqhq. ""But just as emblematic of what is stirring in Holland is the growing excitement around Mr Baudet and his campaign for more direct democracy.""
8. ↑ "Dutch anti-Ukraine vote spawns 'app democracy' party". euobserver. 6 December 2016. https://euobserver.com/beyond-brussels/136147.
9. ↑ (in Dutch) "Standpunten". Forum voor Democratie. 15 November 2016. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten.
10. ↑ "Dutch election: How do you choose between 28 parties?". Sky News. https://news.sky.com/story/dutch-election-how-do-you-choose-between-28-parties-10791215. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
11. ↑ Splintering of Dutch politics makes election hard to predict. Financial Times. Published 16 February 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Joshua Chaffin (14 March 2017). "Populists seize the moment as Dutch fall out of love with EU". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/4520bb4c-07e3-11e7-97d1-5e720a26771b.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Douglas Murray (28 January 2017). "Geert Wilders doesn’t threaten Dutch liberalism: he’s defending it". https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/01/geert-wilders-doesnt-threaten-dutch-liberalism-hes-defending-it/.
14. ↑ "Forum voor Democratie". Forumvoordemocratie.nl. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/kandidatenlijst. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
15. ↑ https://www.parool.nl/binnenland/uittocht-bij-forum-voor-democratie-houdt-aan~a4567887/
16. ↑ "Economie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/economie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
17. ↑ "Belastingen". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/belastingen. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
18. ↑ "Duurzaamheid & innovatie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/duurzaamheid-innovatie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
19. ↑ "Internet". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/internet-privacy. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
20. ↑ "Privacy". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/privacy. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
21. ↑ "Onderwijs". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/onderwijs. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
22. ↑ "Defensie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/defensie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
23. ↑ "Sanering Publieke Omroep". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/petities/sanering-npo. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
24. ↑ "Directe Democratie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/directe-democratie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
25. ↑ "Kartelbestrijding". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/kartel-bestrijding. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
26. ↑ "Gekozen minister-president". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/gekozen-minister-president. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
27. ↑ "Wet Bescherming Nederlandse Waarden". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/wet-bnw. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
28. ↑ "Immigratie & Remigratie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/immigratie-remigratie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
29. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/forum-for-democracy-netherlands-eu-referendum-pvv-fvd-mark-rutte-a8217956.html
30. ↑ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2016, 2017 en 2018" (in Dutch). https://dnpprepo.ub.rug.nl/11137/1/lt_per01012018.pdf. Retrieved 2 June 2018.

## External links

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