GroenLInks-PvdA picking a new leader this morning; Jesse Klaver a likely candidate
The GroenLinks-PvdA parliamentary faction will meet at 11:00 a.m. today to elect a new leader after Frans Timmermans resigned over disappointing election results. Several prominent party members have already indicated that they’re not available for the job. Jesse Klaver is considered the most likely candidate.
Marjolein Moorman, number 6 on the party’s candidate list for the parliamentary election, said on her podcast, De Binnenkamer, on Sunday that she would not run for the position. She called Klaver “by far the best” candidate to lead the party at this time, citing his years of experience. Esmah Lahlah and Kati Piri, numbers two and four on the candidate list, respectively, also said they wouldn’t run.
The names of Habtamu de Hoop (number 8) and Lisa Westerveld (number 5) were also mentioned as possible party leaders. But according to NOS, everyone behind the scenes now assumes Klaver will take the job.
A deciding factor is Klaver’s experience in negotiating coalition formations. In 2017, he was involved as the then-GroenLinks leader in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to join a coalition with the VVD, CDA, and D66.
There is a solid chance that GroenLinks-PvdA will take part in coalition talks in the coming period. Insiders told NOS that the prevailing feeling within the 20-member parliamentary faction is that they’d like to be in the government, but “there has to be something to govern.” They first want to see whether other parties can reach an agreement on the right, since the right-wing parties may also hold a majority. If that doesn’t work, GroenLinks-PvdA will have a better negotiating position.
As the leader of the largest party after the election, D66 leader Rob Jetten will get the first chance to try and form a coalition. He made clear that he’d prefer a broad centrist government with the VVD, GroenLinks-PvdA, and CDA. That coalition would hold 86 or 87 of the 150 seats in parliament, depending on whether the D66 gets a residual seat.
The spanner in the works of that plan is that VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz repeatedly said that she would not work with GroenLinks-PvdA and Frans Timmermans. Whether Timmermans’ departure will change her resolve is not yet clear.
The VVD would prefer a center-right coalition of D66, VVD, CDA, and JA21. That coalition currently holds 75 seats, but could achieve a narrow majority of 76 if the D66 gets that residual seat.
After many years of being considered the moderate mediator, the VVD may well be the complicating factor in the upcoming Cabinet formation process. In addition to a reluctance to work with GroenLinks-PvdA, Yeşilgöz also vowed that the VVD would not touch the mortgage interest deduction and would avoid a Cabinet with plans to cut the benefit. The election programs of both D66 and CDA contain plans to phase out the tax benefit for homeowners.
