Mona Keijzer formally ends BBB membership after earlier exit from parliamentary faction
Former Dutch Cabinet member Mona Keijzer formally ended her membership in the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) on Friday during a members’ meeting in Barneveld, completing her separation from the party after previously leaving its parliamentary faction. At the same meeting, Eerste Kamer member Robert van Gasteren also resigned his membership, though he said he will remain active within the BBB Senate faction, RTL reports.
Keijzer’s resignation marks the final step in a two-stage break with BBB. She had earlier left the BBB parliamentary faction on the day of the installation of the Jetten cabinet and has since served as an independent member of parliament. The dispute traces back to a leadership transition in which Keijzer had been expected to succeed Caroline van der Plas as party leader, but the role was instead transferred to Henk Vermeer.
Her announcement came just before a planned vote on mediation proposals involving her and party leader Caroline van der Plas, party official Henk Vermeer, and MP Femke Wiersma. About 450 BBB members had gathered in Barneveld for the emergency meeting.
“I have given everything to shape the party’s broadening and professionalization, but that cannot be done alone,” Keijzer said. She added: “It is about whether words still carry weight. If agreements lose their value, politics ultimately loses credibility. And then I cannot do politics. That is why I went my own way.”
Keijzer said reconciliation was no longer possible, citing comments in the media by, among others, faction leader Henk Vermeer. She said she had concluded that “the hope for reconciliation was vain hope,” adding she had not been in contact with former colleagues or the party board in recent weeks.
Friday’s meeting had been intended to address the conflict through mediation. One motion called for talks between Keijzer, van der Plas, Vermeer, and Wiersma, following a leaked March letter signed by 60 prominent BBB members. The letter described Keijzer’s departure from the faction as “a deep point in the party’s current development” and raised concerns about internal democracy and the party’s professionalization.
The vote never took place. Before members could cast ballots, Keijzer addressed the meeting directly. “For mediation, multiple parties are needed,” she said, before formally ending her membership.
