GroenLinks-PvdA may definitively continue as Progressive Netherlands (PRO for short). The Council of State has rejected the objection of local PRO parties. But that does not automatically mean that Progressive Netherlands can participate in all regional elections under the name PRO.
At the request of the left-wing merger party, the Electoral Council changed in April the name from the ‘Labour Party (PvdA)’ to ‘Progressive Netherlands (PRO)’. That name change was necessary because GroenLinks-PvdA also wanted to continue in the House of Representatives as Progressive Netherlands. The administration of parliament set as a condition that the name must also be formally registered in the electoral register.
Nine local parties with ‘PRO’, ‘pro’ or ‘progressive’ in the name are angry about this registration, especially because the party wants the local branches to be known as PRO plus the municipal name. In municipalities such as Scherpenzeel, Vlissingen and Duiven, such a PRO party already exists, which sometimes want nothing to do with the ideas of GroenLinks or PvdA. Moreover, they have sometimes been standing for years local PRO party on the ballot paper. They went last month under the leadership of PRO Veenendaal to the Council of State.
The new name of GroenLinks-PvdA is ‘very confusing’ for local voters, according to PRO Veenendaal leader Dario Castiglione. During the hearing he argued that a local party cannot compete with a national party with a ‘large budget and a lot of clout’. “This feels like David against Goliath.”
According to the Electoral Act, the Electoral Council does not have to test a new party name against local party names. The Council only needs to check whether another national party with a similar name already exists. And that wasn’t the case.
No deception
According to the Council of State, the Electoral Council correctly registered the name change. Also, according to the highest administrative court, voters are not misled by the name Progressive Netherlands ‘just because there are also indications of local ‘PRO and Progressive’ parties’.
Only if PRO Nederland wants to participate in the municipal elections or provincial elections will it be checked whether the party name resembles an existing local party. Then the local party always takes precedence. GroenLinks-PvdA keeps hoping that existing PRO parties want to change their names by then, possibly with (financial) help. If not, Progressive Netherlands will have to find another name locally.
The ruling of the Council of State clears the way for the formal name change of GroenLinks-PvdA in the House of Representatives. The presidium, the executive board, has already made a decision in principle on this. The next step is a vote in the entire House. It was initially scheduled for May 12, but was postponed due to the hearing at the Council of State.
The founding conference of Progressive Netherlands is on Saturday, June 13. GroenLinks and PvdA will then formally cease to exist.
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