Ouwehand again PvdD party leader after board discharged her

Esther Ouwehand will resume her work as party leader of the Party for the Animals (PvdD) after the board determined that she was not guilty of any integrity violations. The party chairwoman had temporarily resigned pending an investigation into nine reports filed against her. However, the board ruled on Friday that none of those reports had merit.

"Relieved, happy and proud. Phew, what intense growing pains for our wonderful party. But we made it through them! Thanks to everyone for all the support during this difficult time," she posted on X. "And now we're back to fighting for animals and nature." With this post, Ouwehand confirmed that she was party leader again, according to her spokesperson.

Opgelucht, blij en trots. Poeh, wat een heftige groeipijnen voor onze prachtige partij. Maar we hebben ze doorstaan! Iedereen geweldig bedankt voor alle steun in deze moeilijke tijd

En nu weer knokken voor de dieren en de natuur. Op naar 22 november! 💚https://t.co/JUaTCt6PIz

— Esther Ouwehand (@estherouwehand) October 6, 2023

The reports all came from members of the former board, which recently resigned. The reports against Ouwehand were "clearly an escalation" to settle the party's long-running dispute over direction, the current executive board said. The old board had a completely different direction in mind than Ouwehand and many of the local and regional elected officials as well as councilors.

The current board reached that conclusion after a "careful and intensive process" with the help of a legal expert. External experts independently reviewed the ruling.

The exact content of the reports that have caused much unrest within the party remains unclear. The current board does not want to comment on this for “the sake of confidentiality."

In mid-September, the then-party board decided to no longer nominate Ouwehand as party leader because the latent conflict was widely seen to be escalating. Many members appeared to support Ouwehand in the wild power struggle that followed.

For instance, MP Christine Teunissen told De Telegraaf that Ouwehand "did not do anything other than express her legitimate concerns about the lack of professionalism and bad manners within the party “ According to Teunissen, there is no question of Ouwehand no longer being a party leader: "That is for the members to decide. And not the board," she told the newspaper.

On X, the MP shared her support for Ouwehand to remain as party leader.

Volledige steun voor Esther Ouwehand. Zij is dé lijsttrekker voor de @PartijvdDieren. Verbijsterd door bizarre actie van bestuur. Mijn verklaring hieronder. pic.twitter.com/yOnNffzgkm

— Christine Teunissen (@Ct_teunissen) September 9, 2023

The party's youth organization, PINK!, was also shocked about the party board announcement. "We do not recognize the accusation that is being made. This is at the expense of our party leader and party. We support Esther 100% and want the board to resign as quickly as possible," the youth organization told RTL Nieuws.

In the end, the executive committee resigned. MP Leonie Vestering also decided to leave the chamber due to the dispute. During the PvdD congress two weeks ago, Ouwehand received numerous expressions of support. However, to the surprise of the members present, she announced her temporary resignation until the investigation into the reports was completed.