Centre Party '86

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The Centre Party '86 (Dutch: Centrumpartij '86; abbr. CP’86), briefly known as the National People's Party/CP'86 (Dutch:Nationale Volkspartij/CP’86) was a Dutch far-right political party which existed between 1986 and 1998. The party claimed to represent the interests of indigenous Dutch society. The CP'86 acted as a kind of successor and continuation of the Centre Party. The CP'86 was established on 20 May 1986 and dissolved on 18 November 1998 before an Amsterdam court ruled the party to be illegal.

The Centre Party fell apart in 1986. Right before the 1986 general election, a 'restart' by Wim Wijngaarden and Danny Segers under the name CP'86 followed. After long deliberation, a text of the NPD was selected as the party manifesto. Wijngaarden became chairman. He would be succeeded by Henk Ruitenberg in 1994 for health reasons. The new name did not help nor did the party's new label as "national-democratic" and later "popular-nationalist", instead of the CP's "center-democratic".

In the early years, the CP'86 did not do well. There were many internal controversies and the name-recognition of competitor CD proved stronger than expected. In the 1987 provincial elections, the seat in Flevoland, which was occupied by Wim Beaux for the Centre Party, was lost. Neither of the rival nationalist parties managed to win a seat in any of the provinces. The CP'86 did not participate In the 1989 general elections, that incidentally, led to the re-entry of Hans Janmaat into parliament, this time for CD.

On March 21, 1990, CP'86 won 11 seats in five municipalities. In 1990 necessary changes were made. A large group of young people from the banned Youth Front Netherlands (JFN) under their former chairman Stewart Mordaunt joined up with CP'86. Since then, the party had used the original Celtic cross as an emblem. Mordaunt himself was elected in March in the municipal council of The Hague. This group ensured that the party became much more active and larger, but it also radicalized the party. Under the energetic leadership of Henk Ruitenberg, who joined in 1993, assisted by Tim Mudde from the JFN, a satisfying revival of the party took place.

From May 1992 to May 1996, Tim Mudde was the party secretary and fully put his political street activism into practice. During the 1994 municipal elections, the CP'86 won nine seats in seven municipal councils. However, the party had no seats in the House of Representatives, but got quite close in 1994. The number of council seats declined after the mid-nineties, despite the activism, as a result of the ever-improving economic prosperity and competition from CD. The party was reformed at the end of 1994 and renamed National People's Party / CP'86 to distinguish itself with its radical character. This name went mostly unused.

The Ministry of Justice had been watching the party for some time. As part of the judicial investigation, the party leadership underwent house searches. After these house searches it took considerable effort for the party organisation to be re-established. When the CP'86 party leadership, now headed by the Rotterdammer Martijn Freling, made racist statements in a public party meeting in 1995, the entire board was convicted for heading a criminal organisation.

Major disagreements about the party's image led to mass- expulsions. From November 1996 to February 1997 there were two CP'86 boards, one under Mordaunt and the other under the anti-Freling Beaux. The latter, which wanted a 'clean' image, started a new party in 1997 under the name Volksnationalisten Nederland (VNN) with Beaux, and later Ruitenberg, as president. VNN made use of publicity stunts and took part in Rotterdam council elections, but booked disappointing results. The VNN merged in 1998 with the newly established New National Party (NNP).

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecution Service was looking to confirm that CP'86 was not a political party, but a criminal organization. On September 30, 1997, the Supreme Court condemned the then central administration and former chairman Wijngaarden together with the party as a criminal organization that was systematically guilty of inciting xenophobia, which meant the end of CP'86.

As a result, the party was banned under orders of Minister of Justice Benk Korthals. The Amsterdam court ruled that the party was a criminal organization. Prior to the verdict, the party had long since become an empty shell. Chairman Frelin decided not to appeal the verdict. The party was dissolved.

• Right-Wing Extremism in the Netherlands: Why it is still a marginal phenomenon Dr. Paul Lucardie, DNPP (RUG), November 2000