The fundamentalist Protestant party SGP, which currently has three MPs in parliament, has once again dismissed proposals to formally permit women to run for political office. In a recent vote, party members rejected a change to the party's statutes, with 299 votes against and 53 in favor. This proposal was introduced by Lilian Janse, the first woman to secure a council seat for the party, along with her local branch in Vlissingen. The right-wing SGP maintains that the country should be governed solely according to the ordinances of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and therefore believes that women should not have an active role in political life.
Janse, a councillor for 11 years, aspires to run for parliament in the upcoming election. However, party rules prohibit her from doing so, citing that participation in "political bodies" contradicts "women's calling." The party has been involved in a protracted legal dispute regarding women's roles. In 2013, after decisions from the Dutch Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, the SGP decided to lift its ban on including women on candidate lists. Nevertheless, the party's founding principles remained unchanged, a compromise viewed at the time as a politically strategic move.
Earlier this month, the party board stated that it "does not believe it is prudent to reopen the debate" on the arrangement suggested by Janse and urged members to vote against the motion. Instead, officials emphasized that "the board aims to focus its full efforts on advancing the party's mission of promoting the benefits of Biblical values and norms in the public sphere." Janse's motion sought to amend the existing wording to empower women to determine for themselves the appropriateness of a political role "while considering the position assigned to them by God."
