Parliamentary elections: Lilian Marijnissen again party leader of SP, lashes out at Timmermans

Lilian Marijnissen is once again the SP's list leader in the November 22 elections for the Tweede Kamer. On Saturday, she received the support of an overwhelming majority in the party council, the highest body of the socialist party. In her acceptance speech, she was already attacking her suspected rival on the left, Frans Timmermans.

"When he was in charge in the Netherlands, he and the VVD decided to close nursing homes and workshops for the disabled, introduce the student debt system and raise the retirement age," Marijnissen said. Timmermans thus stood for "old policies" and not for the necessary renewal, the SP leader said.

The 38-year-old Marijnissen succeeded Emile Roemer as party leader of the SP in December 2017. However, the party was not very successful under her leadership. In the 2021 parliamentary elections, the SP fell from 14 to nine seats. It also went downhill in recent years in municipal, provincial, and European elections.

To break this negative run, Marijnissen will probably have to come to terms with Timmermans. The current vice president of the European Commission wants to lead the joint list of GroenLinks and his own party, the PvdA and seems to have broad support. By running together, these parties hope to win over more left-wing voters.

In the fall of the Cabinet and the imminent departure of Prime Minister Mark Rutte from politics, Marijnissen sees "a new opportunity to chart a different, new course for our country." The Netherlands is "done" with "neoliberal policies" that have led to collapse and growing poverty, she said in a speech to her party colleagues.