Today, November 22, we're voting for our new government. I have done so this morning, and I casted my mother's and my sister's vote as well, by proxy. The party I voted for is the ChristenUnie (or Christian Union). That's a small Christian party, who may have some very Biblical ideas about the life we have to live in this country, but most of their ideas do appeal to me. Plus, they're bound to stay small, so any extreme idea they may have will have to be shelved.
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It was the first time I voted for this party. Normally I vote for the Partij van de Arbeid, which is our equivalent of the British Labour Party. The problem with that, however is, that they will probably not be part of our new government. The right-wing parties who will most likely create the next coalition have made it all too clear they don't wish to work with Labor. The parties most likely to be in our new government are the Freedom Party, which you can compare with progressive members of the Democrat Party, and the Christian Democrats, of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, which you can compare with the British Tories. The two, between them, will not get a majority in the Second Chamber of our Parliament, and that's where they may need to call on the Christian Union.
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What we are really voting for today, are new members of this Second Chamber. There are 150 seats available, and they're all up for grabs. We vote on party lists, and these lists only differ marginably in different parts of the country. We do vote for an individual candidate, but these votes first benefit the party, and secondly the candidate. There are about twenty parties I could have voted for. Several of them don't stand a chance, but the following look set to get into the Chamber: left wing: PvdA (Labor), SP (Socialist), GroenLinks (the Greens), ChristenUnie (Christian), D66 (Democrats), and Partij voor de Dieren (animal welfare) right wing: CDA (Christian Democrats), VVD (Freedom), Eén NL (comparable with Australia's One Nation), PVVD (Security Party), and the SGP (Reformed Protestants).
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Four parties could be identified as the 'big parties', namely Labor and the Socialist Party on the left, and the Christian Democrats on the right. If there is going to be a left-wing government they will have to call on the Greens, and if there is a right-wing government, they will have to consist of at least the two big parties on their end of the spectrum. But even then, neither side will be big enough to govern. In order to form a government, you will need the backing of at least 76 seats. Neither side will have more than 69 seats if the polls are to be believed, so that's where the Christian Union comes in. They may be just big enough to help either side to victory. Hopefully the left, but it'll be good to have them on the right. Let's hope for the best.
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One unique feature will be the Partij voor de Dieren. They're projected to grasp two seats, and so we will become the first country in the world where a party solely dedicated to the welfare of animals are elected into the National Parliament. They have the backing of many Dutch celebrities, support from other countries, and have won the hearts of many people, even those who vote for other parties.
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I did my voting on a voting computer, by the way. There was a small scandal a couple of weeks ago, when a TV report demonstrated these computers are easy to manipulate, and when close scrutiny showed, that votes cast could be read by computers as far as 55 feet away, which could help parties manipulate new voters coming to the polling station, if they discover they're not successful enough. This led to over a dozen of municipalities, including the City of Amsterdam, to conduct the vote with red pencils, the old-fashioned way. Oh well, I trust the bad guys aren't even interested in manipulating the way the people of Enkhuizen vote.
No, I haven't returned to MySpace. This acquaintance goes back eleven years.
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You are Sandusky, OH
Loser! You are boring, have no sense of adventure, no sense of humor, you have no friends, in fact you're no good to this world. You are definitely Sandusky, OH!
Famous Sandusky, Ohio, residents: probably a few hockey players, but no one worth a second glance
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