Dutch Party for the Animals gains in parliamentary elections: 6 seats!
After an exciting election campaign, which largely had to be run online due to the lockdown, the Dutch Party for the Animals won six seats in the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament last week. A 20% growth compared to the parliamentary elections four years ago. Party leader Ouwehand: "The Party for the Animals is the only party that advocates for a radical system change, and more and more voters have embraced that, we are growing and that is exactly the intention!" In neighbouring Germany and elsewhere too, the animal rights and environmental movement in politics continues to grow steadily.
The new parliamentary party of the Party for the Animals at the Binnenhof in The Hague, where the Dutch Parliament resides.
With six seats, the Party for the Animals achieved the best election result in the House of Representatives elections to date. "That gives us a very broad mandate to remain the driver of a fundamental change of course in the chamber, to actually solve the climate and biodiversity crises, and to finally significantly reduce the number of animals in livestock farming," said party leader Esther Ouwehand. "The most important thing is that the Earth remains liveable for humans and animals. A lot of voters have said: yes, we need to do that. That is why we have grown and we are very happy with that."
For the coalition negotiations for the formation of the new government, the Party for the Animals has indicated that it is ready to work with all parties "that want to stop the climate crisis with us." But: "If they don’t get any further than just treating the symptoms, we draw the line." And: "This coming period, we really need to make the transition to sustainable agriculture and help farmers switch to an futureproof agricultural system."
International growth
The German party Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz (Human Environment Animal Protection) also gained four more seats in the municipal elections in the state of Hesse last week, and elsewhere in the country the number of voters grew as well. Both the Dutch and the German parties are part of a growing international network of parties that want to anchor animal rights, nature, and the environment in politics and to bring about systemic change in the interest of a liveable planet for people and animals.
In the past 20 years, 20 political parties for the animals have been established worldwide and nearly 160 representatives have now been elected on their behalf at a national and local level in the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The Dutch Party for the Animals is also represented in the European Parliament, and it is actively involved outside Europe as well, to increase international cooperation between like-minded parties and organizations. "Team Planet is growing", says Esther Ouwehand, "and that is very promising news!"