Ferd Grapperhaus plans to stay in politics; also happy to be MP

Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus wants to stay in politics. Should the CDA be willing, he wants to be a candidate on the list for the parliamentary elections next year. He would be happy to be a parliamentarian or a cabinet member for the party, he said in an interview with EenVandag.

"The party must first give me a report card on how I have done over the past years," Grapperhaus said. "I think that is really important. And if it is said: you have done well and we really think that you can play an important role for us in the elections and afterwards, then I think I must do that."

If the CDA forms part of the ruling coalition in the next cabinet, Grapperhaus may again be a Minister. But if the CDA ends up in the opposition, he would be just as happy to be a parliamentarian, he said. "I don't think you should consider that a demotion," he said.

Hugo de Jonge, currently Minister of Public Health, will lead the CDA in next year's parliamentary elections.