Who speaks for unhappy voters?
* Netherlands The parliamentary election on May 6 showed that Dutch voters are increasingly frustrated with the social situation. The challenge - the duty - facing the two left-of-labour parties is to translate the leftwards electoral shift into a leftwards policy shift, by building and strengthening the social movements. John Cozijn Both left-of-Labour parties doubled their parliamentary representation. The Green Left (a regroupment of ex-Pers, Christian radicals and pacifist socialists) now has 11 deputies (up from five), and the exMaoist Socialist Party (SP) have five (up
This leftward shift is no big surprise. Opinion polls have been showing for a long time that most Dutch people want a more progressive approach to social issues. Holland's much-proclaimed economic "success" is based on the generalisation of part time work, and a punishing pace of work that causes more workrelated sickness than anywhere else in the European Union.
There is an increasingly visible polarisation between rich and poor, and general dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of the health care system, and school class size.
The electoral success of the Green Left and the SP is the result of their campaigning for a more social approach. Although the Green Left has a somewhat yuppie image in the Dutch media, its support was definitely not limited to the more educated and better paid sections of society. Over 60% of Green Left voters have a low or middle-range income, and only 14% have a university education. About 36% have a high-school diploma, while the remaining 50% have only a basic education.
The growth in the parliamentary representation of the ex-Maoist Socialist Party is certainly a positive sign. The SP is the only party in the Dutch parliament to speak out clearly against neoliberalism and the free-market economy. More social policies?
Under pressure from the SP and Green Left, Labour made more and more social promises during the campaign. Lodewijk de Waal, president of the largest trade-union federation, the FNV, said on election day: 'We have kept track of (Labour leader and prime minister Wim) Kok's 4 International Viewpoint #302 promises, and they take up nine pages.' Few of these promises are expected to form part of the new government's programme.
In order to produce the social policies that the Dutch electorate voted for, Labour should have broken with its coalition partners, the left-liberal D66 and right-wing VVD. Instead, Kok has already decided to build a new version of the outgoing "Purple" (social-liberal) coalition, though he promises that "Purple Il" will have "a more social face"
But Purple II will be born under a difficult star. Dir. Wellink of the Dutch central bank remarked told the business-oriented daily NRC Handelsblad, Sooner or later a recession is on the way. After years of growth, it will be sooner rather than later; accelerated by the Asian crisis and the millennium problem with computer systems. The introduction of the euro will also cause uncertainty among consumers. Continuing corporate restructuring will lead to increasing unemployment, and in order to meet the European Union's Stability Pact requirements (bringing the budget deficit down to zero), cuts will have to be continued. - 1. the Europe of Maastricht and the multinationals
A Marxist and feminist analysis of the
European Union.
From taxation to transport policy, the
International Viewpoint team analyse and explain the process of capitalist integration of Europe, and the costs involved for working people, women and youth.
We ask what alternative policies the left can put forward, and make a few modest suggestions of our own. *
Price: £1/$2 plus 10% postage charge toi orders of 1-4 copies. Order from your loca agent, or directly from International
BP 85, 75522 Paris cedex 11, France
<International_Viewpoint@compuserve.com>
Gains for the right, too
There exists a floating block of 2030% of the Dutch electorate. A party with an appealing theme and leader can quickly make use of or abuse of it. That party could be on the left, but it could also be the VVD, the major winner of these elections on the right side of the spectrum.
While fascist leader Hans Janmaat and his two fascist fellow-MPs were swept out of parliament by these elections, immigration will remain an important theme in Dutch politics: the VVD will make sure of that. VVD leader Frits Bolkestein has already announced that he will demand stringent measures in the coalition negotiations. According to recent polls there is still a constituency for this sort of demagogy: 33% of the voters think immigration is an important issue, as opposed to 19% in a September 1997 poll. The VVD's racist rhetoric against immigrants and nationalist approach to the euro mean that depending on circumstances it could develop in a direction reminiscent of the British Conservatives in Thatcher's time. Time to work together
The Green Left and SP in particular now have a great responsibility, and not just in parliament. With a very detailed coalition programme there will be little space for a constructive' opposition (as Green Left leader Rösenmoller puts it) or the successful' opposition promised by SP leader Marijnissen. Broad social movements must be built. The social will to do it exists. The self-confidence and positive results gained from the health sector strikes just before the elections should also increase readiness for action.
The FNV trade union federation has taken a stand for higher social benefits and other measures to improve the situation of people on welfare. But if economic growth slows, the government will hardly be inclined to institute these improvements. The problems in health care and education are far from solved. The Green Left, SP and unions will have to take on their responsibilities. The Green Left will have to be less 'constructive' and more activist. And the SP will have to learn to work with others on common campaigns.
Despite the leftwards shift in these elections, there is still no major polarisation or radicalisation, let alone a debate about long-term alternatives. If the Dutch left wants to hold on to this election result and get something out of it, then broad. common campaigns as well as consistent parliamentary opposition are necessary Without that pressure the Labour Party will once more give in too much to the VVD and D66. *