The six are members of the Communist Platform and the Marxist Forum. According to them, these are departments within the party, but the SP considers both groups separate political parties. “They have their own ideology, their own program, their own administration and their own decision-making, so it is a political party in every respect,” said SP secretary Arnout Hoekstra in the broadcast. SP members may not be members of another party.
The members involved are critical of possible cabinet participation by the SP and want open discussion about this within the party. According to Hoekstra, that space is indeed there, but the expelled members are “radicalized attic communists.” They do not agree with the cancellation and want to challenge it at a conference in December.
Radical
Olaf Kemerink, one of the six, was a candidate to become a member of the board of ROOD, the youth organization of the SP. Next Saturday, a vote will be taken on a new board at a general members meeting. According to critical SP members, Kemerink has been expelled because he would be too radical for a board member.