Quite a few parts of Friesland and Groningen have been communist strongholds in history. Poverty was often prevalent in those areas and there was a great call for social equality and combating abuses. Nowadays there are not many municipalities anymore where the communists in the form of the NCPN still gain a foothold. Lemsterland still has a large communist following. The NCPN or New Communist Party of the Netherlands in Lemsterland. This is different in Lemsterland. The New Communist Party (NCPN) has no fewer than 3 seats in this municipality in 2009. That is a lot considering that the municipal council consists of a total of 15 people and 6 political parties. With 3 seats, the communists are the same size as the CDA, Gemeentebelangen and the PvdA. The VVD has to make do with 2 seats and the Christian Union with 1.
In the political field, Lemsterland has always occupied a special position. Around 1880 the municipality also had a rich variety of political parties. In the thirteen -member council, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union factions were the largest. They had their voters in the flourishing (orthodox) Reformed and Reformed congregations. The Catholic parish was somewhat smaller in size. Liberal and extremely orthodox and apostolic groups met in various buildings. Socialism soon found a good breeding ground in Lemmer after the Social Democratic Workers’ Party was founded.
Jacob de Rook
In addition to this SDAP, there was already a large and active department of the Communist Party of Holland with its own building, compared to other places in Friesland. An inspiring figure for the communists was the fish smoker and musician Jacob de Rook, who represented them in the municipal council. A split in the socialist ranks led to a group of independent socialists (OSP) and the Christian Democratic Union, a Christian party of anti-Colijnists and anti-militarists, took root in the rather turbulent Lemster and Lemsterland politics.
Foreman Rinze Visser
Leader of the current party in Lemsterland is Rinze Visser, who is also well known nationally among the new communists. In all his arguments it is always clear that he sees communism as a pursuit of the elimination of social injustice and the pursuit of social justice. According to his party, inherent in this is the desire and need to abolish capitalism. According to the NCPN, this economic and political system cannot exist without injustice.
According to the new communists, communism is also an appeal to people’s conscience, an appeal to solidarity and willingness to sacrifice. The party is concerned about the countless hungry people in the world and the working class who are suffering under the capitalist/imperialist reality, without money, without work, without good health care, without education and without food.
People at the bottom of society
In its own country, the NCPN fights for respect for people at the bottom of society. According to the party, social responsibility for the people at the bottom of society disappears like snow in the sun. The party does nothing other than try to maintain services for this group.
NCPN
The New Communist Party-NCPN (official name; also called New Communist Party of the Netherlands) is a Dutch political party based on Marxism-Leninism. The NCPN was founded in 1992 by communists who disagreed with the CPN’s decision to merge with the merger party GroenLinks. The NCPN is also publisher of the newspaper Manifest.
SDAP
The SDAP was a social democratic party that was founded in 1894 and can be regarded as the successor to the revolutionary-socialist SDB i (Socialists’ Union). The SDAP
first gained seats in the House of Representatives in 1897 . After the introduction of universal (male) suffrage in 1917, the party grew larger and attracted many voters. In 1939 the party took part in government for the first time.
The SDAP strove for a socialist society in which better living conditions would exist for the working class than under capitalism. This meant, among other things, that important industries and the extraction of minerals had to come into the hands of the state. Universal suffrage and a state pension have long been important goals of the party. The first was achieved in 1919, when universal suffrage was introduced. The state pension was also introduced and social security laws were introduced for illness, disability and unemployment. The SDAP has always strived for better working conditions and an 8-hour working day.