Political reporter Wilco Boom about the timing of the opinion piece:
“A decisive moment has now arrived for the PvdA, due to the unexpected departure of party leader Ploumen. There is actually a kind of power vacuum within the party. That is also the time to send out a signal about the course if you want to.
By getting involved, Timmermans and Moorman are taking on a prominent role, especially by doing it now and so soon after Ploumen’s departure. They draw the spotlight, you might say.
They cannot play a formal role at the moment when it comes to Ploumen’s succession: Timmermans is in Brussels and Moorman is in Amsterdam. So they are not in the House of Representatives. But they are the hope in frightening days for the PvdA, because they are the last social democrats to have won major election victories in the Netherlands.
Even before Ploumen’s departure, they were seen as possible successors. As potential party leaders, Timmermans and Moorman have sent out a very clear signal.”
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