Dutch Green, Labor Parties Unite in Bid to Succeed Rutte

Diederik Baazil
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- The Netherlands’ Labor and Green Left parties will combine campaigns and unite behind one lead candidate in a bid to succeed Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

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The two parties announced on Monday that they will collaborate for the snap Nov. 22 election called after Rutte dissolved his government and announced his exit from politics. The move puts the left-leaning parties a step closer to a permanent merger after years of discussions. This month’s collapse of Rutte’s coalition government and the upcoming election accelerated those plans.

“The likelihood that the Netherlands will get a prime minister from a party on the left for the first time in over 20 years has become very big,” Jesse Klaver, leader of the Green Left, told Bloomberg after the announcement. “We are a new powerful player in the Dutch political landscape.”

The parties haven’t yet decided who will lead the united group. Klaver and his labor counterpart, Attje Kuiken, are in the running, but other officials have been linked to the role as well, including current Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and European Union Commissioner Frans Timmermans — both Labor members.

Read More: Third Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Steps Down in Week of Upheaval

Timmermans left the door open as to whether he would consider a comeback to Dutch politics when talking to reporters in Brussels last week.

Rutte’s departure could result in a major shift in the Dutch political landscape. Three of the four biggest parties in the previous elections — Rutte’s VVD, the progressive D66 and the Christian Democrats — are in search of a new leader. That leaves the door open for other parties to fill the void.

In the run up to the Senate elections in March, the two parties already presented one list of candidates. Together, they gained 14 senate seats to take second place behind surprise winner, the Farmers Citizens Movement (BBB). The Labor party currently holds nine seats, and the Green Left party has eight seats in the Dutch parliament, out of a total of 150.

Nearly 92% of Green Left leaders voted in favor of participating in the elections with a joint candidate list, and 88% of Labor leaders backed the plan.

“Today marks a breakthrough,” Klaver said during the press briefing in Utrecht. “We are going to work very hard to change the course of the Netherlands.”

--With assistance from April Roach.

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