Patriot's March
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Patriot's March Mars der Patriotten | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | MdP |
| Leader | Klaas-Jan Jagers |
| Secretary-General | Johannus Dekker |
| Deputy Leader | Marijne Hessing |
| Founder | Hendrik Heinsbroek Johannus Dekker Sander Haars |
| Founded | 16 April 2005 |
| Split from | Patriotic Bloc |
| Headquarters | 11 Onafhankelijkheidsweg, Wapenvald |
| Student wing | Patriotic Students |
| Youth wing | Young Patriots |
| Ideology | Right-wing populism Hennish nationalism Hard eucloscepticism Anti-immigration Anti-Irfan |
| Political position | Right-wing to far-right |
| Euclean affiliation | Movement for a New Democratic Euclea |
| Colors | Dark blue |
| First Chamber | 2 / 60
|
| Second Chamber | 15 / 180
|
| Regional legislatures | 70 / 633
|
| Euclean Parliament | 4 / 26
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Patriot's March (Hennish: Mars der Patriotten; MdP) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Hennehouwe.
The party was founded in 2005 following a split in the far-right Patriotic Bloc (PB), which had been plagued by years of party in-fighting and accusations of extremism. Most of those who had left the Patriotic Bloc eventually joined the Patriot's March, and in the 2006 federal election the MdP won 7 seats and 5.4% of the vote, virtually replacing the PB as the main right-wing populist party in Hennehouwe. Under the leadership of its controversial figurehead Hendrik Heinsbroek, the MdP grew in support over the following years with a number of successes in regional elections, though its vote share fell at the 2010 federal election to below 5%. Heinsbroek continued to lead the party through till 2017, where the party recorded the best ever federal result for a far-right party in Hennehouwe, winning 16 of the 180 seats in that year's election. Klaas-Jan Jagers was elected leader in 2018, after which the party continued to experience growing support.
Despite the Patriot's March having being established in reaction to the perceived extremism of the PB, it inherited many of its baseline principles. Patriot's March identifies as a Hennish nationalist party, supporting Hennish culture, increased welfare programs for Hennish citizens, law and order and freedom of speech. It rejects multiculturalism and is strongly anti-immigration, and has been characterised as an anti-Irfan party. The MdP has also previously supported a Hennish withdrawal from the Euclean Community and the euclozone, and opposes any attempts at further autonomy for Petois areas of Hennehouwe.
Since its founding, the Patriot's March have been accused of racism, xenophobia and Irfanophobia, and of perpetuating such views into the political mainstream. As a result, all other main parties have refused to co-operate with the MdP, in a similar vein to the cordon sannitaire imposed on the PB throughout its existence. Consequentially, the party has never formed part of a coalition at any level of government.
Currently, the MdP is the fourth-largest party in the Second Chamber with fifteen seats, and holds 70 seats across the ten regional legislatures. The MdP also has four seats in the Euclean Parliament, where it is affilated with the Movement for a New Democratic Euclea (MNDE) party.