@SleutelstadFormer councilor Mathieu Paardekooper
In association with
Broadcasting West
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 11:27
Almost two months after he suddenly left as councilor of Zoeterwoude, it is clear why Mathieu Paardekooper (VVD) resigned. According to Broadcasting West a message on Facebook about the war between Israel and Hamas was the reason for his departure. In that message, Paardekooper said he “doesn’t have the slightest bit of sympathy for the injured and dead.”
Paardekooper has been in local politics for more than thirteen years. He posted the message on Facebook shortly after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. On October 16 reported the municipality that Paardekooper had “decided to stop being alderman due to personal considerations”.
‘I had to write my resignation letter’
Now the former councilor says that after complaints from the opposition party Progressive Zoeterwoude, he had to face his party, the VVD. “I was informed that I had to write my resignation letter. Otherwise, a press release would go out saying that no confidence in me had been lost,” he says.
An attempt at gluing was pointless, says Paardekooper. “I apologized and even suggested that I delete my Facebook account. I wanted to talk to the group to explain why I posted the post. That was also refused.”
He says he is aware that he made a mistake with the Facebook message. “I wanted to say that neither of them can beat the other and that they have to work it out together. But in retrospect I understand that that sentence is as wrong as it can be,” he says.
Proverbial drop
The VVD in Zoeterwoude confirms the former councilor’s story and states that the message on Facebook was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. “This was yet another statement on news and social media sites in which Mathieu gave his opinion in an unqualified and, in this case, unacceptable manner. The conversations about this have led to him submitting his resignation as councilor,” said VVD chairman Ino Cooijmans. Leiderdorp-Zoeterwoude.
Paardekooper believes he was not sufficiently warned. “Anyone who knows me knows that I have an opinion and that I give it,” he says. “Comments have sometimes been made such as ‘is this necessary?’. It has never been said: ‘this is the last time, after this it is done’.”
Waiting pay
The former councilor does not rule out a return to local politics. It is also possible that he will take up his old profession of truck driver again. But for the time being he says he will make use of the redundancy pay scheme.
At the end of November, the NOS reported that dozens of people had gotten into trouble at work due to messages on social media about the war in Gaza. This often concerns people who have been ordered by their employer to delete their posts, sometimes under threat of measures. Footballer Anwar El Ghazi was expelled from his club FSV Mainz in early November after a pro-Palestinian tweet.
2023-12-09 10:27:18
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