The members of GroenLinks and PvdA voted on Thursday in large majority for the creation of a new political party in 2026. That decision is therefore final and will be further elaborated in the coming months.
At GroenLinks, 89 percent of the members who cast their votes were in favor of a new party, at the PvdA that percentage was 88.
The parties announced this on Thursday afternoon in a café in The Hague. Members were able to cast their votes digitally last week.
In addition, they massively chose to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections on October 29 with a joint list of candidates and a joint election program. This was also the case in 2023.
These elections come too early for the new party. The ballot will therefore state GroenLinks-PvdA, just like last time.
Despite the convincing support, the opponents of the merger have also regularly made themselves heard in recent months. They are united in the club Rood Vooruit, which mainly consists of (former) PvdA members.
A common argument against the merger plans is that the ideals of both parties are diluted. “Red and green do not always go together,” says, for example, former PvdA leader Ad Melkert in the fifth episode of the podcast Frans. Former Speaker of the House Gerdi Verbeet and former party leader Hans Spekman are also critical in the podcast.
It would be strange if current party leader Frans Timmermans is not also the leader in the upcoming elections. Officially, the members must also express their views on this. Any candidates must first pass the screening of the list leader committee this week. The interviews for this are this week.
Next week, the choice will be presented to the members, who can vote until June 20. The result will also be announced that day. So far, only Timmermans has publicly stated that he wants to lead the way.
With the decision of the members, the next steps can be taken. This concerns, for example, what the new name should be and what the new logo should look like. The scientific bureaus of GroenLinks and PvdA are also working on a joint program of principles.
This outlines the values and ideals of the new party in broad terms. Terms such as “collectivity” and “solidarity” are used, but unlike an election program, this is not very concrete. All these choices will be presented to the members again next year after the municipal elections in March.