Entire PvdD board resigns; Ouwehand back as leader of Party for the Animals

The entire board representing animal rights political party PvdD announced on Wednesday plans to step down by the end of the week. The decision comes just four days after the board announced its intention to drop its leader in the Tweede Kamer, Esther Ouwehand, with just two months to go before elections will be held to determine the membership in the lower house of Parliament. The board has decided to nominate Ouwehand to lead the party before its departure.

The board had said Ouwehand would not be allowed to lead the party heading into the election because of allegations of a possible integrity violation. This sent waves of frustration through the party, with many angered that the board made a unilateral decision before any possible violations were investigated. At the same time, the party’s current Tweede Kamer members were divided on the issue.

According to Ouwehand, the board decided to withdraw her nomination to lead the PvdD after she sent a very critical letter to and about the board a day earlier. In it, she wrote that the board was partly responsible for her burnout at the end of last year, according to NU.nl. She also questioned the party’s course. The party board demanded members stick vehemently to the party’s ideals instead of softening the tone a bit to join a coalition. “I continue to find it astonishing that the board required me, as party leader, to guide all faction leaders ‘to the opposition’ after the municipal elections,” Ouwehand wrote.

Several very active PvdD members threw their support behind Ouwehand in the days that followed, which partly prompted the board’s decision to resign.

With the resignation, board member Marnix van der Werf said that they would indeed nominate Ouwehand as the party’s Tweede Kamer leader before they resigned. "Solely because of the fuss," he said. "Our position on this has not changed." They will submit their resignation effective Thursday, he said on X.