Lilianne Ploumen nominated to be Labour leader: report

The PvdA board nominated Lilianne Ploumen to be the party's leader in the parliamentary elections in March, sources in the party said to NOS. On Saturday, the party will hold a digital conference to finalize its election candidate list, including party leader.

If Ploumen is selected, she will succeed Lodewijk Asscher, who stepped down last week because of his role in the childcare allowance affair - a fraud witch hunt by the Tax Authority that left thousands of Dutch families with severe financial problems and also resulted in the Rutte III Cabinet's collapse.

Ploumen was number 3 on the PvdA election list before Asscher's resignation. She is already filling in for Asscher as party leader.

The 58-year-old politician has extensive experience in The Hague. She was Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the Rutte II government. And in the past four years she was PvdA vice chairman.

Ploumen gained international fame a few years ago when she launched the She Decides foundation, which strives to provide access to safe abortions to women worldwide after the Trump administration cut funding for family planning.