Fortuynist Organization for a Realistic Pragmatic Approach Fortuynistische Organisatie tot een Realistische Zakelijke Aanpak | |
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| Abbreviation | Forza! Netherlands |
| Leader | Paul Meijer (2004–20) Erik Vermeulen (2020–22) Ralph Castricum (2022–) |
| Founded | 19 February 2004 |
| Split from | Pim Fortuyn List |
| Headquarters | Hoofddorp Taurusavenue 100 Haarlemmermeer |
| Ideology | Right-wing populism Populism Fortuynism |
| Colours | Black Orange |
| Website | |
| www.forza.nu | |
Forza! Nederland (an abbreviation ofFortuynistische Organisatie voor een Realistische Zakelijke Aanpak) is a Dutchright-wing populist political organisation active in theNetherlands. Despite the name, the party has no connection toForza Italia.
Forza! is active in several municipalities in the Netherlands and was represented in theProvincial Council of North Holland until 2015.Forza! is known to be as one of the successors of the formerPim Fortuyn List and very outspoken againstIslam, refugees and in favor of referendums and can be considered as a local counterpart of or alternative to theParty for Freedom andJA21.
The party's history began in 2003 whenPaul Meijer andFleur Agema were disbarred from theStates-Provincial Pim Fortuyn List. Meijer and Agema founded the party to participate in the 2006 elections, but failed to raise the money needed to participate. In 2006, Agema left the party and joined theParty for Freedom (PVV) ofGeert Wilders. Forza! participated in the2006 Dutch municipal elections inHaarlem andHaarlemmermeer but won no seats in any municipalities.
Forza! tried to cooperate withRita Verdonk'sTrots op Nederland but the differences between the two parties could not be resolved so it stranded.
In the Dutch municipal elections of 2010, Forza! again participated in Haarlemmermeer andHaarlem. In Haarlem the party won no seats. In Haarlemmermeer the party won three seats in the municipal council. Forza! chairman Paul Meijer became the group leader.
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In late 2012, Forza! Netherlands also gained a seat in theProvincial Council of North Holland. Monica Nunes switched from theParty for Freedom to Forza! and represented the political organisation. In 2015 she was disbarred after not showing up in the provincial council for almost a year. Forza! did not return in the provincial council to give the PVV a chance to grow. The party later officially declared that they were against the form of a provincial council and wanted to abolish this.
In 2014, Forza! announced that the organisation would not contest national elections anymore and would only be active in various municipalities. In the2014 municipal elections, the party grew from three to four seats in Haarlemmermeer, but lost two of these six months later after a conflict between Meijer and two other Forza! councillors. The party also participated inVelsen as Forza! IJmond and won two seats.
In 2015, a councillor of a local party inSpijkenisse joined Forza!, and in 2016 a councillor inCastricum joined the party, giving Forza! representation in four different municipalities. In 2017, Forza! chairman Meijer announced that the party would also participate in the municipalities ofMaassluis andEnschede in the2018 municipal elections. However, the local leaders of the two cities stopped their campaigns just before the elections because of personal threats.
In 2018, Forza! won one seat in the city ofCastricum and went from two to three seats in the city ofVelsen. In the city ofSpijkenisse, Forza! lost all her seats. The election in Haarlemmermeer resulted in five seats, making Forza! the third biggest party. However, it was left out of participation in themunicipal executive.
In 2020, a battle of directions broke out in the party. Some board members accused Paul Meijer of abusing the municipal council group budget. After an integrity report was made against him to the municipality, he was placed on non-active status and replaced by Forza! Haarlemmermeer council member Jordy Schaap. The group in Haarlemmmermeer fell apart into different camps, whereby two Forza! councillors left the party in October.[1] In January 2021, the two separated members returned to the party and Meijer was expelled from the municipal council group and the national party. His party chairmanship had ended in december 2020 and the new board, now consisting of Ralph Castricum and Erik Vermeulen decided not to let Meijer rejoin Forza![2] Both Meijer and the other board members subsequently claimed to represent the party.[3] Meijer went to court and demanded that Forza! was returned to him and that a board chosen by him was to be appointed as the rightful party board. However, the national Court ruled that Meijer was in the wrong and that the party did not belong to him alone. In November 2022 Meijer was also convicted for fraud from the party treasury and ordered to repay an amount of 32,692 euros. Meijer, by then, had switched to the political partyBelang van Nederland.
At the2022 Dutch municipal elections, Forza! lost one seat in Velsen, two in Haarlemmermeer and gained one in Castricum. The party was later also active inDe Bilt andRucphen.
Until 2014, Forza! was a party with members and people could become a member. After 2014 the party no longer accepted new membership applications. The members of the association are only those sitting on the party board. In 2021 that decision was reversed by the current party board.