Losing the elections is not without consequences, as the three parties of Paars (purple): PvdA, VVD and D66 are finding out now. Heads were gonna roll.
The first to draw their conclusions were the three leaders of the ex-government parties. Both Ad Melkert of the PvdA and Hans Dijkstal of the VVD resigned [1] after the disastrous election results for their respective parties. Thom de Graaf of D66 was reelected by his party’s Tweede Kamer faction as their leader after he had given up his position.
But the three faction leaders were not the only ones who decided to quit their jobs. Ex-minister Jan Pronk was reelected but decided he would give up his seat. He felt his the PvdA needed new blood and decided to set an example. His example was followed [1] by staatssecretaris (underminister) Margo Vliegenthart also of the PvdA and minister Roger Van Boxtel (D66). He is trading places with Boris van der Ham, the only new person on D66’s election list.
For Van Boxtel the main reason for leaving was that he felt he was the “embodiment of Paars-2” [2] and that the heart of his ministerial responsibility, minority policies, had become the “playfield” [3] for the rise of the LPF. Apparantely, he said, agitating about problems is valued more then working towards solutions. Not that these solutions have had much visibility
or success. As a minister he had a newly created portfolio concerning the big city areas in the Netherlands and integration of minorities, covering terrain already under the responsibility of other departements.
So far then, we have two PvdA MPs and one D66 MP quitting to make place for new blood. This however still leaves all three of the ex-govermental parties with an abundance of older, long serving MPs, since most of the newcomers were on as it turned out to be unelectionable places in their respective parties election lists. Whether this will be a handicap or an advantage to the parties is of course still unclear. On the one hand you can question whether the longer serving MPs can get themselves out of the ruts their parties are in, on the other hand having a cadre of experienced MPs may serve well in dealing with the great mass of inexperienced LPF firsttimers…
[1] Article in Dutch.
[2] “de belichaming van Paars-2”
[3] “speelveld”
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