The Catholic National Party (in Dutch: ''Katholieke Nationale Partij'', KNP) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 ...

. The KNP served as a Catholic

protest party A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or " none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms ...

against

Indonesian independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...

Party History

The KNP was founded on December 11, 1948 as a continuation of the list-Welter (Committee for Action). This list got one seat in the 1948 election. It was led by Charles Welter, a former Dutch Minister for Colonial Affairs, who rejected the Dutch government's support for

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n independence. It also turned against the cooperation of the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP) with the Labour Party. In the 1952 election the party won another seat. In 1955, the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

s pressured the KNP to return to the KVP. Welter joined the KVP parliamentary party. In the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

and

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

elections, Welter got a seat for the KVP.

Ideology & Issues

The KNP was a catholic party, which advocated

christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

politics. The party was conservative in economic and ethical matters. The most important issue for the KNP was the unity of the Dutch empire. It rejected the independence of the

Dutch Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

and it instead wanted to form a kingdom in which the

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and Indonesia were equal partners. In 1950, the independence of Indonesia was irreversible, and the party oriented towards other issues. It became an advocate for the interests of the Papuas, Ambonese people and Dutch citizens for the Netherlands. The two Protestant parties, ARP and CHU, were also divided on the issue of Indonesian independence, with the CHU cooperating in the Dutch cabinet and the ARP rejecting Indonesian independence. It also sought to limit government interference in society and reduce government spending. It, however, advocated increased support for the agricultural and

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

sectors.

Representation

This table shows the KNP's results in elections to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and Senate, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

Electorate

The support of the KNP was spread throughout the country. The party's support peaked in

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

were many former civil servants from the Dutch Indies and was weaker in the three Northern provinces.

References

{{Christian political parties in the Netherlands Political parties established in 1948 Political parties disestablished in 1955 Catholic political parties 1948 establishments in the Netherlands Confessional parties in the Netherlands Conservative parties in the Netherlands Defunct Christian political parties Defunct nationalist parties in the Netherlands