ANPPieter Omtzigt during a parliamentary debate, last month
NOS News•today, 22:00•Edited today, 23:04
Pieter Omtzigt will participate in the parliamentary elections with his own party on 22 November. He announced that in newspaper Tubantia. His party is called New Social Contract.
Omtzigt already has a substantive program, but no candidate list yet. “We are talking to people, but can’t share names yet,” he says in the newspaper. “Next week there will be a call on our website for people who want to participate to register. We have until October 9 to come up with a list of candidates.”
Omtzigt separated from the CDA in June 2021 and has been in the Chamber since then as a one-man faction. He has a large following and can count on a large number of seats in polls.
Preferably not 46 seats
Omtzigt says that the “expectation pattern” of possibly dozens of seats has not made it any easier to take the plunge. He calls it “irrational” to start a new party with so many seats.
“This country has learned from what happened with LPF and Forum for Democracy,” he says. “So no, we don’t want to get to 46 seats all at once, but we want to start a party with responsible growth.”
The New Social Contract party, also the title of a book Omtzigt published in 2021, was officially founded this weekend. Omtzigt posted a video on his social media explaining his decision.
Pieter Omtzigt comes with his own political party New Social Contract
According to Omtzigt, the Netherlands needs “a new administrative culture”. He mentions, among other things, the realization of a different electoral system and the installation of a constitutional court as spearheads. He also wants to do something about the housing shortage and the “food shortage” among the Dutch.
Omtzigt says it does not aim to become the largest party. But if that does happen, he does not want to become prime minister. “My place is in the House, to lead a new team as party chairman of a new party.”
Political reporter Marleen de Rooy:
“Omtzigt is a formidable competitor for many parties. And he can appeal to a great diversity of voters. For example, an important theme with which he wants to enter the elections is social security and poverty. Parties on the left can lose voters to him there.
On the other hand, he is also a man from the region who wants to do things differently. Something that can attract the BBB voter, for example. And then there is his old party, the CDA. Many people used to vote for him there.
At the same time, he himself indicates that he wants to prevent his party from exploding. But how he wants to prevent that is still unclear. Just as it is not clear who he will put on the list of candidates.”
2023-08-20 20:00:15
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