Centre Democrats (Netherlands)
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Template:Election netherlands The Centrum Democraten (CD, Centre Democrats) was a nationalist conservative political party in the Netherlands founded in 1984 by Hans Janmaat. The party had a populist platform and believed that the growing number of immigrants and asylum seekers in the Netherlands would lead to a strain on the social system, increased crime, and destruction of Dutch culture. Some of the party's slogans were "Full is Full" and "Netherlands for the Dutch".
Foundation
The party was founded in november 1984 by Hans Janmaat, as split off of the more xenophobic Centrumpartij (CP, Centre Party). Janmaat thought that by stearing a more moderate course the new party would able to attract more voters at the polls. The Centrum Democrats tried to profile themselves as a more acceptable form of the CP. A reconciliation meeting of the Centrum Democrats and Centrum Party on the 29th of march, 1986, turned out dreadful. Radical 'anti-fascist' activists set the hotel of the meeting afire, ruining the place and causing permanent invalidity to Janmaat's later wife Wil Schuurman. No attemts to reconcile would be made thereafter. The CD, like the CP, was unable to obtain a seat in the 1986 election.
1989-1998
The second election for the CD in 1989 for the Dutch Tweede Kamer produced one seat, filled by Janmaat. On the local level they obtained seats in 1990 in the city councils of The Hague and Amsterdam, one filled by Wil Schuurman.
The members of other political parties in the Dutch parliament tried to abstain from interjecting with the CD, inspired by the Belgian cordon sanitaire around the Vlaams Blok. But this turned out to be counterproductive. 77 council seats were obtained in the 1994 municipal elections, and although polled at a higher result, 3 seats in the parliamentary elections later in that year.
Although trying to be more varied, the 'foreigner issue' remained central to the party's rhetoric, both inside and outside of the parliament. Both Janmaat and Schuurman will be convicted of racism on multiple instances by Dutch courts. Janmaat's iron fist within the party results in multiple party members being stripped of their membership. The infighting caused to be destructive to the party, which in 1998 lost all three Tweede Kamer seats. The party continues until this date, but with the passing of Janmaat in 2002 it is unlikely any future participation in elections will be forthcoming.
Legacy
For most Dutch people the Centre Democrats remains a party foreign to the central ideas of the Dutch consensus society. But some of the party's ideas proved to be the canary in the coal mine when the populist Pim Fortuyn raised to the occasion in the 2002 elections. Although Fortuyn shared the idea of scrapping the non-discrimination clause of the Dutch constitution and was staunchly anti-immigrant, he was more liberal and because of his charisma could easily attract more voters. What Janmaat and the CD saw, is what Fortuyn made possible to discuss, a perceived 'bankruptcy' for some, of the multi-cultural society in Holland.nl:Centrum Democraten