Party of animals, pensioners and… sports: The strangest formations the Dutch are asked to choose at the polls

They will go to the polls tomorrow, Wednesday (22/11). Dutch people, having to choose which of the 26 parties to vote for. The elections in Netherlands they are different than in other countries, as broad choice, as here, in an electoral process, differs from countries in which voters have a choice between a few parties.

Polls place it center-right VVD, the newly formed NSC and left alliance GroenLinks-PvdA to precede the intention to vote. They follow it extreme right PVVbut the list of candidate parties also includes some others, completely unusual, according to the APE – MPE.

Here are five of them:

The Animal Party

“The animals they are beings endowed with consciousness and emotions. Their lives must be treated with care.” That’s how it starts manifesto of the Party of Animalswhich features a sad dog on its website and is asking for donations.

His political program includes: enshrining the animal rights in the Constitution, creation of a joint Ministry of Health and Animal Rights to deal with human and animal health and scrutinize all government decisions to determine their impact on animal welfare.

The party also calls for to stop livestock farming, with a “dramatic reduction” in the number of animals killed for consumption. In addition, it calls for a ban on aquariums and circuses with animals as well as stricter rules for children to follow when visiting zoos: “animals are not stuffed animals”.

The “Partij voor de Dieren» also campaigns on environmental issues such as housing and general well-being. In the 2021 elections he collected almost 400,000 votes, thereby securing six of the 150 seats in the Dutch parliament.

50 years and older

As its name suggests, this party does campaign for the rights of older voters. He wants to restore the retirement age to 65 (up from 67 from 2024), cap social security contributions from 45 and abolish inheritance tax.

In the 2021 elections the party collected slightly more than 1% of votes and thus received a seat in parliament. Before the 2021 election, it held four seats.

Party for a New Generation

At the other end is the Party for a New Generation, which campaigns for the youth of the Netherlands. Free public transport and education, lowering the voting age to 14 and ‘radical equality’ (‘Down with the patriarchy») are among the main points of this party’s manifesto.

He has four young people under the age of 18 on his ballot and the average age of his candidates is 29.8 years. “All of them believe that things can be better and less stressful in the Netherlands“, states the party’s website.

Party of sports

With a photo of a smiling woman on her bicycle on its website, the Sports Party claims it is the only one that has as its starting point “sport, movement and a healthy lifestyle for all Dutch people».

Free sports facilities for under 21s, reducing health contributions for “people who lead a healthy lifestyle” and incentives for people to walk or cycle to work are among the party’s pledges. The party wants swimming to be compulsory in the school curriculum, with at least two hour-long physical education lessons a week. Young students will be tested not only on their academic skills, but also on their ability to do physical exercise.

The Netherlands with a design

Party “The Netherlands with a design” wants “more color in politics” and more voice in different groups. He introduces his program on a home page with an image of a typical Dutch landscape of green plains, on which is a windmill surrounded by a pond.

The group presents itself as a “youth movement” that “he also wants to give a voice to the Asian community in the Netherlands». His “plan” includes: free transport for all, a basic income for all, free childcare from the age of two and referendums on a wide variety of issues.