PvdA vote-rigging puts party on defense

A PvdA frontrunner, Osman Suna, is suspected of being implicated in voter fraud. PvdA leader Diederik Samsom has voiced that Suna shouldn't come back, De Telegraaf reports. Samsom urges that this kind of scandal is harmful to the party. "This is not good, so you should leave", Samsom tells EenVandaag. "He won't perform as member of parliament for the PvdA. Not now, not later."

Suna has come under fire because he, together with party member Adem Baskaya, approached Muslims at the Attaouhid mosque in Soest, and tried to recruit them for votes. A vote would subsequently be cast for the PvdA. The nd reports that Suna also allegedly took copies of peoples' identification documents who were going to vote on the 19th of March. He has now pulled out of the running. The police and the Department of Justice have launched an inquiry. In Roermond, mayor Peter Cammaert (CDA) claims that he has been approached from "different sides" about election rigging as well, the nd reports. Cammaert sent a letter to frontrunners and leaders of the parties, warning that he'll file a report if he receives more messages about swing voters being recruited. Cammaert is not saying which particular parties are involved with the rigging. Mayor Jan Hamming from Heusden has also filed a report about rigging, after receiving signals that it was happening in the city.