Women’s suffrage org. wants gov’t to intervene in SGP’s refusal of female MP’s

Bureau Clara Wichmann has called on outgoing Minister of the Interior Judith Uitermark to take action against the christian party SGP. The organization claims that the party excludes women from its candidate list for the parliamentary elections on discriminatory or unlawful grounds.

As with all previous elections, no women appear on the party’s candidate list published on Wednesday. “It is known that a woman, Lilian Janse from Vlissingen, put herself forward as a candidate. This raises the question of whether women within the SGP actually have access to the right to stand for election,” the bureau stated.

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the state must take measures to ensure that women are genuinely eligible for election within the SGP. “We are now 15 years on, and the SGP still refuses to amend its Statement of Principles, which describes women holding political office as ‘in conflict with the calling of women,’” said Clara Wichmann.

The Clara Wichmann Institute had already called on Uitermark to take action a few weeks ago. However, on July 25, she stated that she needed more time. Wichmann has protested against this delay.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior told the Reformatische Dagblad on Thursday that the minister is looking into the issue and will issue a response at a later date. “We are carefully considering this issue and will not comment on the substance at this time.”

The SGP advised against a proposal from its Vlissingen branch to allow women to hold political and administrative positions in May. The party amended it's statutes to allow women to run for political office in 2013.