GroenLinks and PvdA are hastening the establishment of a new political party now that the cabinet has fallen. In today’s released fifth episode of the podcast Frans, the merger is central. Why does party leader Frans Timmermans want this so much, and what do the critics think?
Timmermans almost misspoke on Monday when he addressed his voters during the campaign kickoff of GroenLinks-PvdA. “We are…”, he began. But he recovered. “We want to be a large left-wing popular movement.”
Timmermans believes the differences between GroenLinks and PvdA are minimal compared to the differences with the political right. He calls the fact that the parties are seen together as far-left “purely an image problem” in the fifth episode of Frans.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that there are no more difficult problems than image problems,” says Timmermans. So there is still “a very big job until the next elections”. Those elections are now much earlier than expected.
Fall of cabinet accelerates merger process
The decision to rename GroenLinks and PvdA into a completely new party seems almost a formality. Ultimately, the members decide. Initially, they were allowed to express their opinion on this at the congress on June 21, but due to the fall of the cabinet, that vote has been brought forward.
Since last week Thursday, they can cast their vote online. This Thursday, the vote closes, and the result will be announced immediately.
Until now, the members have voted massively in favor of further cooperation: from a merged faction for the Senate to a joint election program for the House of Representatives elections. The party boards are therefore looking forward to this next step with confidence.
“We believe in the power of solidarity, in the power of being stronger together,” wrote party chairpersons Katinka Eikelenboom (GroenLinks) and Esther-Mirjam Sent (PvdA) in an email to the members.
‘Red and green don’t always go together easily’
The haste fuels the resistance among the opponents, who are united in Rood Vooruit. “It is being shoved down our throats,” the critics express their feelings on their site. Former PvdA leader Ad Melkert calls the merger “hasty, unnecessary, and ill-considered”.
There are even voices that a new party will be founded as soon as the merger of GroenLinks and PvdA is a fact. Although Rood Vooruit has no concrete plans for this.
“Red and green don’t always go together easily,” Melkert summarizes his objections in the podcast Frans.