Former VVD senator: Antifa terror motion was the "final straw" for leaving the party

The “final straw” that led Cees van de Sanden to leave the VVD Senate faction was the VVD’s support in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, for the motion to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, he said this on the TV show Nieuwsuur.

Van de Sanden revealed on Wednesday that he would leave the faction and retain his seat. Reflecting on his decision, he said, “I considered what Thorbecke would have thought. He would have said: The constitution doesn’t mention ‘party loyalty.’” The ex-VVD member intends to uphold, as fully as possible, the principles his former party “represented” in past elections. Johan Rudolph Thorbecke was a 19th-century Dutch statesman who helped draft the constitution.

In September last year, when the VVD was already in government with the PVV, Van de Sanden took office as a senator. He had hoped “to have enough influence to steer the party back to its liberal compass. Sadly, that has proven extremely difficult.”

Van de Sanden said he did not consciously choose to leave the party right before the elections. “At some point, there was such a buildup of decisions that I could not agree with.” He added that he has not yet decided which party he will vote for, but it is “highly unlikely” to be the VVD.

The most recent polls show the VVD in fourth place for the elections on October 29. They are currently set for 12 to 16 seats in the Tweede Kamer, a significant decrease compared to the 24 seats they currently have in parliament.