Tomato victory
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* Netherlands The European establishment praises Holland for its superflexible workforce, and lack of social conflict. But Erik Meijer of the Socialist Party will use his seat in the European Parliament to tell the real story... Barend de Voogd The party's5% score in the June election to the European Parliament surprised many members. The Socialist ("Tomato") Party won only 1.3% of votes in the 1994 European election, and 3.5% in the last national election.
The Socialist Party has always opposed the European Union's capitalist integration projects. But it has tended to join initiatives like the 1997 Amsterdam "EuroMarch against Unemployment" at the last minute— preferring self-affirmation to active joint work. The party was virtually absent from the June 1999 Cologne demonstrations against the EU summit.
"Building the party" is the central axis of the party's road to socialism. But organisational sectarianism, populist propaganda on "questions of principle" and intense local work have enabled the party to capture much of the left protest vote in municipal and national elections.
In 1974, the party had five municipal counselors, today it has 223. In 1998 the party increased its parliamentary presence from two to five Deputies. The membership has increased from 16,000 in 1994 to over 25,000 today.
"The SP is now present at all the levels of power," says Jan Marijnissen, the party's charismatic leader.
IIRE fire safety appeal
Amsterdam 10 e International Viewpoint #315 October 1999
A new spirit of openness...
Since the party is not really involved in the social movements, there is an obvious risk of a reformist slide. The party hopes to avoid this by increasing its dialogue with non-member militants, and involving "independents" in its parliamentary work.
The party's new Member of the European Parliament, Erik Meijer, only joined the SP three years ago. He previously led the Socialist Pacifist Party (PSP). In the late 1980s, the PSP and Communist Party (CPN) created the Green Left. Meijer later decided that it would be more useful to join and build the SP.
"The SP isn't really a revolutionary party," Meijer admits. But he is convinced that it "can play a similar role in Dutch politics to Italy's Refounded Communist Party,"-by regoruping all Dutch currents to the left of the greens and the social democrats. ...failing to convince
So far, the party has failed to attract significant numbers of disillusioned supporters of the Communist Party and other left groups. This is partly because "independents' are put off by the lack of debate inside the party, and the absence of currents or tendencies reflecting the real diversity of the Dutch left. (In fact, Meijer is the only leading SP member who does not come from the original Maoist core.)
Other potential supporters criticise the SP's absence from the social movements. Immigrants and homosexuals find the party line disappointingly mainstream.
"Most members of the SP are not politically active," says Meijer. "But we are trying to create some common
MEHR
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identity." For instance, every year the party organises hires an outdoor attractions centre, and offers all members a free day out. Meijer admits that this "bread and circus' appraoch is not to everybody's taste. "Some members accuse us of wanting to create anther pillar' of society"
But even the party's left critics recognise that the SP does defend even unpopular positions on what it considers to be questions of principle. For example, the SP was the only party to vote against Dutch participation in the NATO war against Yugoslavia—an aggression which had massive popular I/ continued on page 12
The Communist comeback regions most heavily hit by party into the mainstream