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SP XVIth National Congress, January 2010: Proposed Closing Statement

YOU and I are WE!

On 30th January 2010 the SP will gather in Rotterdam for the party’s 16th Congress. The Congress is the SP’s supreme policy-making body, and in order to give all members the chance to participate, it is preceded by regional conferences and branch meetings where the analysis of and response to the condition of the country, the world and the party itself is hammered out. This year, too, the Congress will represent the starting signal for the SP’s campaign for the municipal elections scheduled for March 3rd. Below is a translation of the highlights of the conclusions of these deliberations. » Read more

Culture of Greed

Just like communism, capitalism must be supplanted

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of East European communism, neoliberal capitalism also seems to have lost its power of attraction. According to an opinion poll conducted by the BBC in twenty-seven countries across the world, only 11% of those interviewed retain any faith in actually existing capitalism. The rest believe that through-going reforms are needed, while a quarter hold that capitalism in its present form is irreparably defective, and want to see a new socio-economic system. “High time that politicians really began to listen to the people,” says SP Senator Tiny Kox. » Read more

Also:

• ‘Stop Business as Usual’
• EU budget rejected: in time of crisis, millions are wasted
• ‘International solidarity still needed’
• Culture of greed brought about this crisis
• Fortis rescue attempt unavoidable
• ‘ Thank you bankers, thank you regulators ’
• Council of Europe launches investigation into effects of credit crisis

Middle-East conflict

Palestine's wilting carnations

Israel is continuing to impose an economic boycott on Gaza. Forty million carnations, grown with Dutch financial support, have been stuck inside the enclave since 10th February because they cannot be exported without crossing Israeli territory. The boycott is a reaction to the seizure in 2006 of an Israeli soldier, Gilat Shalit. » full article

Also:

• Israeli products from Occupied Territories: Minister agrees to SP request to investigate
• Israel refuses to allow winner of Dutch human rights prize to travel to the Netherlands
• Condemn both sides' aggression – a sustainable peace can only be achieved through negotiation
• Van Bommel: ‘It has to be about the victims, and about finding a solution’
  
• Parliament recalled to discuss response to Gaza
  
• Israel versus Palestine: how much longer?
  
• Israeli invasion of Gaza strip: ‘Parliament must be recalled from recess’
• European Parliament votes to delay EU-Israeli trade deal
• Cabinet must condemn Israeli violence
  

Iraq

Iraq: Government must not fear the truth

Only the Dutch government seems to want to dig in. In their answers to the Senate's question they stated their view that there had already been enough exchanges on this subject and that it was in addition unnecessary to bring into the open the information on which they had arrived at their decision. This position leaves them increasingly isolated. Internationally, also, the government's standpoint is remarkable, both in the arguments it used to justify support for the war and in its refusal to go deeper into the considerations which lay behind its decision. » more

• Latest revelations on Iraq: yet another argument for an enquiry, January 27th, 2009
• 'Press revelations over suppressed memos should be reason enough for Labour to renege on its agreement with coalition partner’, January 19th, 2009
• New revelations on invasion of Iraq: Van Bommel demands explanation, January 17th, 2009
• Iraq: Senate sets course for parliamentary enquiry, December 23rd, 2008
• Government's answers on Iraq war: 100 times nothing, December 19th, 2008
• Government answers Senate’s questions on Dutch involvement in Iraq war at last, December 7th, 2008

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Introducing the Socialist Party

The Dutch Socialist Party (SP) is enjoying an increasing popularity and is the fastest growing party in the Netherlands. Inside and outside parliament, the SP works to achieve its goal: a society in which human dignity, equality and solidarity take precedence.

In terms of membership the SP, with more then 50,000 members, is the third biggest party in the Netherlands. Only the Christian Democrats (CDA) and Labour Party (PvdA) are bigger, but the gap is narrowing!

Members of the SP are factory workers and students, nurses and maintenance engineers, accountants and boat-builders, school students and pensioners. Every member is in a branch and has the right to speak and participate in decision-making at branch meetings. Each branch chooses its own executive and nominates candidates for elected office. On this basis the SP’s national organs – the Party Executive, the Party Council and the Congress – are also democratically elected.

In terms of the number of seats held in the various elected bodies which make up the Dutch political system, the SP also comes in at number three. We have twenty-five Members in the 150-seat ‘Tweede Kamer’ (corresponding to the House of Commons or House of Representatives), eleven in the Eerste Kamer (the Senate), two in the European Parliament and more than four-hundred representatives on local councils and in provincial assemblies. The SP’s elected representatives donate their expenses to the party, keeping only out-of-pocket, receipted costs. The surplus helps to cover the party’s activities.

Using the menu in the left-bar, you can get to know the SP’s branches, representatives, activities, and publications. You’ll also find the Party’s Charter and the Action Programme, and a selection of recent SP news. But maybe you want to start by reading the brief history of the SP

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