Oct 14, 2023 at 7:08 PM Update: an hour ago
According to Frans Timmermans, it would be good for the country if the VVD were to stand on the sidelines for a while. The GL-PvdA party leader said this on Saturday at the first joint election congress where almost five thousand members of the parties met.
Timmermans wants to take the Netherlands in a different direction: a “more social side”. According to him, that will not happen quickly with the VVD. “They want to go in a different direction, but the right-wing side. We don’t want to go that way.”
According to Timmermans, it would be more obvious to seek cooperation with Henri Bontenbal’s CDA or Pieter Omtzigt’s party, NSC, for example.
The last time the PvdA governed together with the VVD was from 2012 to 2017. Timmermans was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the early years of this cabinet period. The Social Democrats suffered the biggest defeat ever in parliamentary history in the election.
For Timmermans, that experience “of course also plays a role” in his reluctance to work with the VVD again.
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Timmermans: ‘Awaiting election results’
The recent interrogation of former VVD minister Henk Kamp by the parliamentary Fraud Policy Inquiry Committee also means that Timmermans is not keen. Kamp defended the way in which alleged fraud with benefits and allowances was tackled for years.
Timmermans does not understand how Kamp could do that, knowing what the consequences were. “I was really angry about that. It shows how that party apparently still thinks about people.”
However, it may be the case that the PvdA will not be able to ignore the VVD after November 22. “We will see about that, it depends on what the Dutch citizen will do in the voting booth,” said Timmermans.
‘Children are dying’
The conference also paid a lot of attention to the violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. A minute’s silence was held at the beginning.
In recent days, a number of GroenLinks members have criticized the initial reactions of Timmermans and Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks faction leader). The two spoke out strongly against Hamas’ violence last Saturday. The members lacked attention to the Palestinian side of the matter.
Time was set aside at the conference to briefly discuss the terrible events, but there was no real discussion. The party boards of GL and PvdA came up with one motion that reflects the divergent positions.
Not all members thought the statement went far enough. Some still lacked a stronger condemnation of Israel. The motion was ultimately adopted with more than 96 percent of the votes.
Abolition of monarchy in election manifesto
The final election program was also adopted at the congress. Recently, members have been able to submit proposals for adjustments. About fifteen adjustments were voted on at the congress.
A narrow majority (52 percent) wants to abolish the royal family. This will now be included in the election manifesto. The members also want the minimum wage to be increased to 16 euros all at once, instead of gradually.
“I don’t ignore it, but Congress must understand that not everything is possible,” Timmermans said in response to the motion on the minimum wage. That was also the message from GL MP Tom van der Lee: “That costs too much money and we cannot afford it now.”
About abolishing the monarchy, Timmermans said “that this is not at the top of his priority list”.
Other proposals, such as abolition of the deductible in health insurance and a basic income for everyone, were not successful.
Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the GL-PvdA candidate list: Kati Piri, Jesse Klaver, Frans Timmermans and Esmah Lahlah (from left).
2023-10-14 17:08:29
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