The Christian Democratic Appeal (Dutch: Christen-Democratisch Appèl, CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands founded in 1977, which participated in all but two governments since then. It was a merger from the Catholic People's Party, which was part of all cabinets since World War II, and the Anti Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union.
The party suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and, by halving their share, fell from the first to the fourth place. From 2010 to 2012 consequently, the CDA was a junior coalition partner in a right-wing minority cabinet with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), supported in parliament by the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV). The CDA had 6 ministers in the first Rutte cabinet along with the 6 VVD cabinet ministers. Some senior offices were held. Sybrand van Haersma Buma leads the CDA in the House of Representatives and is the new Party leader since May 18, 2012.
Subsequently the CDA again lost a considerable amount of seats in the 2012 elections, resulting in a fifth place.
Read more about Christian Democratic Appeal: Ideology and Issues, Electorate
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