Finance Min. Wopke Hoekstra eyed to be new CDA leader: report

The CDA wants Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra to succeed Hugo de Jonge as leader of the party, several sources told RTL Nieuws. De Jonge announced his resignation on Thursday, saying that he can't handle both his duties as Health Minister in the coronavirus crisis and lead the CDA.

”The unprecedented crisis that the Netherlands is going through has been demanding all my time and energy for months. This will also be the case in the coming months,” De Jonge said. He increasingly realized over the past weeks that something's got to give, he told RTL later in the evening. "The approach to the corona crisis after the summer became increasingly intensive, also in the energy that it demands."

It would be striking if Hoekstra is appointed the new CDA leader, as he previously indicated that he had no interest in the position. Five months ago, the CDA held leadership elections in which De Jonge only barely beat the other candidate, parliamentarian Pieter Omtzigt.