The Drenthe branch of the VVD put Ewout Klok from Ten Arlo forward as a candidate for a place on the House of Representatives list, but the national selection committee brushed this advice off the table. A decision that the Hoogeveen entrepreneur cannot understand. “I am now being personally wronged and the board is insulting the VVD in Drenthe with this.”
At first, Klok was hesitant to apply for a place on the list. But after he had rented out his gas station in Hoogeveen, VVD Drenthe was able to persuade him to talk to the nomination committee. Also because, in his own words, he fits in well with the profile that the VVD asked for: “A member of parliament who is critical, stands with both feet in society, has a following in the region where he or she comes from and must be a bit stubborn .”
Klok’s nomination was therefore not well received by the national party leadership. In an open letter to the VVD members, the filling station owner explains why.
The selection committee gave Klok two reasons why he does not see himself on the list. The main ones are messages he sent out on social media in the past. In 2011, for example, Klok said on Twitter that he had a driving ban due to speeding. Within the VVD they have a statute of limitations of five years for such incidents.
In 2012, Klok tweeted that he was convicted of selling alcohol in a gas station. According to Klok, this would have been a pilot process in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, with the approval of the VVD.
The second reason given to Klok was an ‘administrative blockade’. “When I asked what that was, the answer was not forthcoming,” Klok explains in the letter.
After the rejection, Klok contacted VVD chairman Eric Wetzels for further explanation, but that did not help him either. “I was advised to say that I was too low on the list and that I had therefore withdrawn. The reality is that I would not be on the list at all. Afraid that I would still enter the House with preferential votes. “
The Hoogeveen entrepreneur would like an explanation of the choice of his party. “No explanation is indigestible to me. Apparently there is no room for this entrepreneur who has an opinion.” Incidentally, Klok will remain a member of the VVD, he says in the letter. “You will not find me on any other list of a political party. I will continue to vote VVD.”
Chairman of VVD Drenthe, René Laan, says he is very disappointed and he will talk to his fellow party members at the general meeting of members next Saturday.
2023-09-07 17:01:12
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