The elections for the national parliament in the Netherlands, held on November 22, 2006, brought significant changes in the country’s political landscape.
One of the new parties that made its entry into the 150-seat parliament was the Party for Animal Welfare (Partij voor de Dieren/PvdD), which was able to get enough votes for two seats. This makes the Netherlands the first country in the world in which a party for animal welfare is elected into a representative body of the people. In a number of other countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, political parties similar to the Party for the Animals were recently set up.
The PvdD leader, Marianne Louise Thieme (34), and, as of today, also of its small representation in the parliament, is a Seventh-day Adventist church member.After law school and a brief corporate career, she decided to enter politics to promote animal welfare and founded in 2002 the Party for the Animals. Some time ago, she became interested in the Adventist faith and joint the Protestant free church. Another Adventist church member is also active in the party’s work.
Dr. Reinder Bruinsma, the president of the Adventist Church in the Netherlands, sent his congratulations to her, expressing the wish that she would be able to achieve measurable results in working for her ideals. He added his hope that, in spite of her busy life as a parliamentarian, she would continue to find the time to charge her inner battery in the spiritual home which she recently found.
A large number of well known Dutch authors such as Jan Wolkers, Kees van Kooten, Maarten ’t Hart and Harry Mulisch have joined the Party for the Animals. Twenty of the party’s 30 candidates are opinion leaders in the Netherlands.