Labour party must change into public movement that stands for people if it wants to survive: report

If the PvdA wants to survive, it must spend the coming years changing from a classic management party to a broad public movement that stands with and for the people, Labour party celebrity Paul Depla said in a report on the party's future, ANP reports.

The party asked Depla, a prominent PvdA member and mayor of Breda, to investigate how the party could overcome the loss of 29 seats in the last parliamentary election. Depla did so by speaking with hundreds of people, both in and outside of the party, to come up wth what he calls "future recommendations".

One of the main causes of the party's collapse is the "Netflixization of Society", according to Depla. "The society is divided into small groups living in their own information bubbles, each with their own political party. There are signs of a fragmented pollution in which the party must not participate. If the PvdA becomes its own pillar, it would be better for us to stop existing", he said.

He concluded that the party must "focus fully on the issues of work and income, healthcare, the environment and a multicultural society in order to restore faith in social democracy." According to Depla, the the PvdA must quickly return focus to what is important - fighting for life security for everyone in the Netherlands. "Voters expect that the PvdA will go further than capitulating for social development."

NU.nl also recently did a study into why the PvdA lost so magnificently in the election in March. The way the party ruled with the VVD, the party's old-fashioned structure and the party leader elections were the main reasons mentioned for the party's loss of support. The newspaper also found an image of a deeply divided party, many of whom's members question whether the PvdA can continue to exist. For example, three parliamentarians who lost their seats after the election wondered whether there is still need for social democracy in today's society.

The PvdA is one of only two parties that can still help the VVD, CDA and D66 form a new government that will have a majority in both parliament and the senate. But so far PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher refused to taken part in any cabinet this term, following the party's dramatic loss.

The only other possibility is forming a cabinet with the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie. This weekend ChristenUnie leader made clear that he does not want his party to be simply an intermediary. He will not talk with the VVD, CDA and D66 before it is absolutely clear what the PvdA will do, he said, according to the Telegraaf. He called on Asscher to put down in writing exactly why his party won't be part of the next cabinet, so that the PvdA can be ruled out.

Last week an attempt to form a cabinet between the VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks collapsed on the topics of asylum policy, climate and social inequality. After talks collapsed, mediator Herman Tjeenk Willink ruled out forming a government with the three central parties and the PVV or SP. This happened after he asked the leaders of the VVD and CDA to put in writing why they won't rule with the PVV - they excluded the PVV and Geert Wilders as increasingly radical and untrustworthy. He also asked SP leader Emile Roemer to write down why he won't rule with the VVD.