Scandal-ridden politician wins seat in Limburg election

Jos van Rey has won a seat in the Provincial Council of the province of Limburg.

The scandal ridden politician from Roermond ran on the slate of Volkspartij (People’s Party) Limburg and received 3,801 votes, 834 more than his opponent Vincent Zwijnenberg. He has to decide today whether he accepts the seat in the council. He had indicated earlier that he intends to. Van Rey who hails is facing charges of bribery, election fraud and money laundering, stemming from investigations that were launched into him in 2011. According to the indictment presented that was presented to him today, he accepted at least €97,000 from project developer Piet van Pol. The justice department suspects he also accepted money from other parties.

The province released the outcome of the March 28 provincial elections in a press release today. It said that 19 council members were elected back into the council, while there were 28 new members chosen from 11 parties, three of which were new. The new council will be inaugurated on March 26 at a public meeting in the Council Hall.