Aboutaleb: Asscher should not have stepped down as PvdA leader | Inland

After the elections, the PvdA remains stuck at the historically low number of nine seats. Asscher’s successor Lilianne Ploumen had to quickly take over and campaign fully. That would not have been necessary, says Aboutaleb. “Lodewijk Asscher should not have left, as far as I am concerned.” The mayor of Rotterdam was “disappointed” by the departure of the party leader.

The benefits affair ultimately did not play a major role in the election campaign. Asscher “left for a reason apparently not considered important by most voters,” says Aboutaleb. He points to the loss of the CDA and the SP, two parties that have pulled hard at the affair. The numbers two on the lists of those parties, Pieter Omtzigt (CDA) and Renske Leijten (SP), have helped bring the allowance scandal to light. In any case, Aboutaleb hopes that they have been rewarded by the voters. It is expected that both MPs have received many preferential votes.

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