Engel Modderman (1 October 1951) is a Dutch communist politician and activist.

Career

Until 1999, Modderman was active on behalf of the

New Communist Party of the Netherlands The New Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Nieuwe Communistische Partij Nederland, NCPN) is a communist party in the Netherlands. The NCPN was founded in 1992 by the former members of the Communist Party of the Netherlands to oppose CPN's me ...

(NCPN), of which he was also a member of the national board and the ''

lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

'' in the

1998 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on 6 May 1998.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1396 , they mark the last time a government headed by the Labour Party (PvdA) has been elected, or tha ...

. In 1999, Modderman and the NCPN came into conflict over the Blauwestad construction project and he founded the United Communist Party ( nl, Verenigde Communistische Partij, VCP), of which he has been political leader ever since. Resistance against Blauwestad remained one of the spearheads of the VCP. Later, as a municipal councilor, Modderman protested against the new construction of cultural center '' De Klinker'' in

Winschoten Winschoten (; gos, Winschoot) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt in the province of Groningen which has 38,213 inhabitants. ...

and against the extraction of gas from the Slochteren natural gas field. Modderman is leader of the VCP in the municipal council of Oldambt, where his party has been represented with four seats since 2014. In the

2014 Dutch municipal elections The Dutch municipal elections of 2014 were held on 19 March in most municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determines the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years. Background Municipal elections are, unle ...

, Modderman received the most votes of all politicians in Oldambt, after which talks started about the formation of a college with the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

(SP),

Party for the North The Party for the North ( nl, Partij voor het Noorden, ''PvhN'') is a regional political party in the Netherlands founded in December 2002 representing the interests of the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. The PvhN seeks a separate ...

( nl, Partij voor het Noorden, PvhN), and VCP. The latter left the negotiations, however, and the SP and PvhN formed a coalition with the Labour Party and the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

instead. On May 14, 2018, Modderman was appointed as acting chairman of the municipal council after the sudden death of mayor Pieter Smit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modderman, Engel 1951 births Living people Dutch communists Communist Party of the Netherlands politicians Municipal councillors in Groningen (province)