Netherlands: Mixed feelings following election victory

Evangelicals in the Netherlands have been left with mixed feelings following the victory of Rob Jetten’s liberal D66 party, who ousted the right-wing PVV in a nail-biting General Election that went down to the wire.

Saskia de Graaf, Public Affairs Officer for MissieNederland (Dutch Evangelical Alliance), told en that while evangelicals are “grateful and relieved” that Christian influence remains in parliament, following success for conservative Christian parties SGP and ChristenUnie, “a lot of concerns” remain as the nation moves into a new and likely more liberal era of government.

She revealed that continued Christian representation in parliament is crucial, and that the alliance regards its advocacy work in politics, the media, and society, as importantly as ever, as hostility towards traditional Christian beliefs and a general level of polarisation have taken hold across the nation.

She said: “We are very grateful for the results of the Christian parties. We think that it is very important that these parties advocate for the rights of religious minorities and especially the rights of evangelicals. We see more and more that important human rights like freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and thought are in conflict with the anti-discrimination laws.

“MissieNederland calls evangelicals in the Netherlands to continue to pray for the government and all politicians. Not only because of the freedom of religion but also because we see a level of polarisation that is unprecedented in the Netherlands… We think in this state it is very important that Christians should be the light and the salt that we are called to be.”