GroenRood, People’s Party for Fairer and Greener, Groener&Socialer, PvdA-GL, Party for People and Climate or simply LINKS. Fiction, but in a few years one of these names could be on your ballot, provided PvdA and GroenLinks members approve the next step in left-wing cooperation today.
The next step is a joint faction in the Senate after next year’s elections. At the end of the morning, PvdA members vote on a proposal to that effect at their congress. Shortly afterwards, GroenLinks announces the results of a binding member referendum on the same issue.
In recent weeks, just about all prominent figures from both parties have been discussing the ever-increasing cooperation. Final standings of the letters, opinion pieces and joint meetings is that on both sides there are party leaders, parliamentary groups and party boards in favor of the merger.
Red and Green Battle
In a letter sent in de Volkskrant a slew of ex-party leaders and other heavyweights of both parties made it clear why. “The ‘red’ struggle for a just society and the ‘green’ struggle for a sustainable society are one and the same”, wrote Diederik Samson and Bram van Ojik, among others. Right-wing power must be broken, the idea is, and the next step is to amalgamate the Senate factions.
Proponents emphasize that the faction merger is truly reversible, should it not be successful. But opponents fear that they will be tampered with in a merger. Far-reaching and hasty steps are being taken, a number of concerned PvdA celebrities recently wrote in another open letter† They fear, among other things, for the interests of people “with a small scholarship and a modest education”.
Not everyone at GroenLinks is cheering either. “Our party with administrative ambition should not disappear in a merger with a party from the past,” wrote some young members in an opinion piece. Skeptics at GroenLinks point to various positions on sustainability and migration, among other things.
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