Labour's Henk Nijboer to leave parliament; Henk Krol could return

PvdA parliamentarian Henk Nijboer won’t return to parliament after the election in November, he said in a letter posted on X, formerly Twitter. He is concerned about his party’s intention to run with GroenLinks. Henk Krol, former leader of 50Plus, wants to return to parliament. He will be running with Wybren van Haga’s new party BVNL in the parliamentary elections, he announced on the talk show De Oranjezomer.

Nijboer said he “can’t hide my concerns about the political course” of his party, referring to PvdA and GroenLinks members voting to run a joint list in the parliamentary election. “The voters deserve MPs who believe wholeheartedly in the new cooperation. Others are now better at that than I am,” he said.

“I wish our party a lot of wisdom in the cooperation and will continue to dedicate myself to the ideas of social democracy, but not from the perspective of the new faction, “ Nijboer wrote. He added that he still hoped for a “fantastic result’ in the elections.

Krol returns

The 73-year-old Krol decided to return to parliament with BVNL to again stand up for the elderly, he said on De Oranjezomer. According to him, senior citizens have lost their voice in national politics. He said he is second on the BVNL election list after Van Haga.

Krol also thinks the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, needs members with more experience. “It’s only after eight years that you find out how it really works.”

Krol left 50Plus in 2020 after a series of arguments. He founded the Partij voor de Toekomst, joined by former FVD member Henk Otten and former PvdD MP Femke Merel van Kooten-Arissen. He left that party, too, amidst arguments, RTL Nieuws reports.