New Communist Party of the Netherlands


The New Communist Party of the Netherlands is a communist party in the Netherlands. The NCPN was founded in 1992 by the former members of the Communist Party of the Netherlands to oppose CPN's merger into the centre-left GroenLinks. These members have been known as "the Horizontals". Through the Stichting HOC, the NCPN releases the monthly newspaper Manifest.
The NCPN supports the socialist government of Cuba, the socialist developments in Venezuela under Hugo Chavez and Bolivia under Evo Morales. The party opposed the United States invasion of Iraq and opposes neoliberalism.
In 2003, the Communist Youth Movement was founded as the NCPN's political youth organization.

History

In 1982 a group of members of the Communist Party of the Netherlands founded the newspaper Manifest, out of discontent with the CPN leadership. In 1984 this group founded the League of Communists in the Netherlands. The CPN dissolved in 1992 in order to make place for a new political party, GreenLeft, an alliance in which the CPN had participated since the 1980s. Subsequently, the VCN, together with many former members of the CPN, founded the NCPN.
In 1999 the local branch of the NCPN in the municipality of Scheemda split from the party and continued as the United Communist Party, which has since won city council seats in Oldambt and Pekela.

Elections

The NCPN has participated in elections to the Tweede Kamer, Provinciale Staten and gemeenteraden, but never in elections to the European Parliament. In the period between 1994 and 2002 the NCPN was part of the governing majority coalition in the municipality of Reiderland.
YearLijsttrekkerVotes%Seats
1994Rinze Visser11,6300.13%0
1998Rinze Visser5,6200.07%0
2003Alejandro de Mello4,8600.05%0

International activity

The NCPN has participated in the annual International Communist Seminar and the annual International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties. The NCPN also often cooperates with the Workers' Party of Belgium, the German Communist Party and the Communist Party of Luxembourg in the Four-Countries Conference.