Jul 12, 2023 at 05:27Update: 9 minutes ago
Dilan Yesilgöz wants to succeed Mark Rutte as leader of the VVD. The outgoing Minister of Justice and Security has put forward his candidacy as party leader, the party said after a message from The Telegraph.
According to the newspaper, the party board puts Yesilgöz forward as the preferred candidate for the list leader. The VVD indicates that the preferred candidate will not be chosen until later this week.
Yesilgöz is the second to succeed Rutte after André Bosman. The outgoing prime minister announced on Monday that he would not return as VVD leader. Earlier, Klaas Dijkhoff, Edith Schippers and current party chairman Sophie Hermans announced that they did not want to succeed Rutte.
“What Mark Rutte has done for the VVD and for the Netherlands can hardly be expressed in words. It is his shoulders that I can stand on if I can succeed him as party leader,” says Yesilgöz in The Telegraph.
She says she is ready to make the Netherlands stronger and more resilient. “Safer, more prosperous and ready for the future. With an eye and ear for the interests of the people for whom we do it, the inhabitants of the Netherlands.”
‘Ready to be Prime Minister’
Yesilgöz also says he is ready for the premiership. “In recent years I have done many different portfolios and fulfilled many political roles. I now bring a mountain of experience with me, including the ability to quickly master content and information. That provides a solid basis to work on.”
Yesilgöz, 46, was born in the Turkish capital Ankara. In 1984, at the age of seven, she came to the Netherlands with her family.
She started her political career in 2014 as a municipal councilor in Amsterdam on behalf of the VVD. In 2017 she became a member of the House of Representatives. In May 2021, she was appointed outgoing State Secretary for Economic Affairs in the Rutte III cabinet. At that time, the cabinet had already fallen over the benefits scandal.
Since January 2022, she has been Minister of Justice and Security in the Rutte IV cabinet. That cabinet fell last Friday because the coalition could not agree on a migration plan. That also meant Rutte’s departure as prime minister after thirteen years.
0:35 Play buttonGet notified about political news.Stay informed with notifications
2023-07-12 03:27:26
#Yesilgöz #succeed #Rutte #VVD #leader #running #office #Politics
