VoorNederland (translated: For Netherlands or Pro-Netherlands) was a Dutch political party. It was previously active in the

House of Representatives of the Netherlands The House of Representatives (, pronounced ; commonly referred to as the ', literally "Second Chamber of the States General") is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate ...

as the Group Bontes/Van Klaveren ( nl, Groep Bontes/Van Klaveren), a

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

founded in April 2014. The parliamentary group was succeeded by a political party in May 2014. After failing to garner win a single seat in the 2017 general election the party disbanded.

History

The Group Bontes/Van Klaveren ( nl, Groep Bontes/Van Klaveren) was a

formed on 15 April 2014 by Louis Bontes and Joram van Klaveren, two Members of the House that had left the Party for Freedom (PVV), the party they were originally elected to represent. On May 28, 2014, group members officially founded a new political party, VoorNederland, a

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...

and

liberal conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by li ...

and eurosceptic

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

. On 13 November 2014, the party announced that it would cooperate with the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

in the

Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe The Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe, abbreviated to ADDE, was a European political party founded in 2014. It was composed of parties belonging to the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group in the European Parliament (EP). T ...

. In December 2014 and January 2015, VNL was joined by former PVV leader in the European Parliament Laurence Stassen and, leading up to the 2015 provincial elections, two provincial PVV representatives from Groningen and

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. On 27 January 2015 it was announced that the members of the party Article 50 had voted to merge it into VoorNederland. On 21 April 2015 it was announced that jurist and former lawyer

Bram Moszkowicz Abraham Maarten 'Bram' Moszkowicz (; born 26 June 1960) is a Dutch jurist and former lawyer. Early life and education Abraham Maarten Moszkowicz was born on 26 June 1960 in Maastricht in the Netherlands. He is the son of Berthe Bessant and l ...

would become the party leader and ''

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 ...

'' of VoorNederland at the next Dutch general election, planned for 2017, but after nine months he was rejected by the party. In the

2017 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. The incumbent government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte was the first to serve a full term since 2002. The previ ...

, VoorNederland failed to win a single seat, securing just 0.4% of the vote. Because of its election failure and lack of money the party was dissolved by its members congress on 18 June 2017.

Programme

VNL was a proponent of

small government Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ver ...

and proposed the introduction of a low flat tax rate. Furthermore, it supported investment in the police and defence, and it wanted to limit the powers of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

to a free trade area, and a stricter immigration policy, the party had ties with

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...

References

External links

* {{Liberal political parties in the Netherlands Political parties established in 2014 2014 establishments in the Netherlands Liberal parties in the Netherlands Conservative parties in the Netherlands Defunct nationalist parties in the Netherlands Right-wing populism in the Netherlands Secularism in the Netherlands Classical liberal parties Liberal conservative parties Eurosceptic parties in the Netherlands Right-wing populist parties Political parties disestablished in 2017 2017 disestablishments in the Netherlands