PROGRESSIEF SOCIALISTISCH VERBOND (PSV)

The Progressive Socialist Union ('Progressief Socialistisch Verbond' in Dutch) is a socialdemocrat political party in Kronenburg.

The party is the continuation of the Socialistische Partij (Socialist Party) that rebranded itself in 1975 to rejuvenate its image. The attempt was successful as the party's number of seats in the Noordkamer grew steadily after that, with 17 seats breaking its former SP record of 14 seats in the elections of 1984, and twice as many in the elections of 1992: 34 seats out of 125.

The party became part of the government coalition with the LKP of Prime Minister Sander Opland Falting for three consecutive terms. In 2000, the LKP didn't manage to form a new coalition agreement, despite being the largest party, and the PSV became part of a three-party coalition with PvG and DPG instead. PSV-leader Johan Achterberg became the first Prime Minister of PSV signature. This government lasted only three months: on 15 May 2001 Achterberg's own PSV rejected ratification of the AGL free market Treaty of Corille. This was a particular disgrace for Achterberg himself, as he was a big supporter of the AGL and the free market treaty; as minister of foreign affairs he had made an effort to get Kronenburg an AGL membership. Achterberg left national politics after that. A small attempt was made to create a new coalition with the same seat division, but soon it was decided that new elections had to take place. The PSV didn't manage to keep its momentum and subsequently went into opposition.

The PSV continued to be one of the larger political parties however and in the early elections of 2007 it gained 44 seats in the expanded Noordkamer. The PvG also gained 44 seats but as PSV had more votes, they were allowed to lead the government formation talks. A coalition was formed of three parties: PSV, PvG and PU under Prime Minister Ernst-Piter Strikwerda.

Strikwerda's term as prime minister was quite tumultuous. His government came into power on 1 February 2008, at a time of economical hardship: the country was nearing bankruptcy in a way similar to Iceland, the two larger parties of the coalition were almost equally large, which caused the image of two captains on one ship, and the small third party of the coaliton was constantly nagging about wanting Kronenburg to become a NATO member. The PvG seemed to be struggling to find a capable finance minister; within a year after Strikwerda's government got to work, two finance ministers had been sacked, the third one, Etto Reer, being finally the person the government needed most at that moment.

Later on, an internal crisis in Strikwerda's own political party, PSV, caused the government to falter: the rank-and-file of the party, headed by Mariëtte van der Schaaf, were of the opinion that the PSV ministers weren't propagating the PSV ideology enough and wanted to change the prime minister. The democratically chosen PSV members of the Noordkamer however were standing firm behind the prime minister, so nothing happened, except that Strikwerda was sure from that moment on that he wouldn't be granted a second term by his own party. The PvG and the PU, feeling that this affair could cause the public opinion to change to the prejudice of the voters, urged the prime minister to hand in his government's resignation before the end of term. This the prime minister did and early elections were held on 23 March 2011 (originally they were set for 26 October). During the last months of its term, the government had to face wikileaks, heavy protests against nuclear energy and some personal blunders by the prime minister himself.

In the elections of 2011, the PSV lost half of its seats, and the elections of 2014 weren't any better: the party got only 15 seats, which was the worst result since 1980. Despite this, Mariëtte van der Schaaf, who was elected party leader already during Strikwerda's tenure as Prime Minister, was not voted out and she continued to be the country's most outspoken opposition leader on the left. The elections of 2018 saw improvement: the PSV gained 26 seats in the first Noordkamer that had seen its number of seats reduced from 175 to 101 after the constitutional changes of 2016. The PvG had become the largest party for the third time in a row however and didn't choose the PSV as its coalition partner.

Political leaders of the PvG:
Rob Vos (1975 - 1981)
Frerik Bosman (1981 - 1984)
Gerhard Kooistra (1984 - 1986)
Albert Pasveer (1986 - 1987)
Marjan Anners-Bijlsma (f, 1987 - 1999)
Johan Achterberg (1999 - 2001)
Frans Bakker (2001 - 2002)
Hermine Fultsema-de Boer (2002 - 2005)
Ernst-Piter Strikwerda (2005 - 2010)
Mariëtte van der Schaaf (f, 2010 - present)