Klaver says he’s not yet a member of the PvdA: ‘It’s a hype, it’s good to see. We are working on something beautiful, an incredibly interesting collaboration between our parties against the trend of fragmentation. There are parties that step over their shadow and say, “We have so many similarities, we will work together intensely.”
When asked, Klaver says he is not moving towards disbanding the party. ‘Absolutely not. We just work very well together, we want to be the biggest in the Senate elections. Can the Netherlands turn left or right: will the VVD become the largest or will the PvdA/GroenLinks become the largest? If we become the biggest, then we can change course, so we can make it more sustainable, so we can make it more equitable.’
Concept
Klaver says he understands VVD leader Rutte railing against the left in the Telegraaf last week and saying that GroenLinks and the PvdA are bad for hardworking Netherlands. ‘I can understand him thinking: What’s going on here? It is the first time in twenty years that the left in the Senate can become the most numerous, he is no longer used to it. He sees that his power base is faltering. Because he knows that if those parties together become the biggest, they can force many changes. We’ll do that too, you saw it last year.”
Upside down world
“We can make the wealth tax go up, for example, because it is inexplicable that in recent years a tax system has emerged under the responsibility of the VVD in which a nurse pays more taxes than a slum owner. This is the world turned upside down, so you see the VVD championing the very, very rich, the people with a lot of wealth. We stand up for people who work in the Netherlands.’
“People with big fortunes, millionaires, barely pay taxes. We will change it. And if Rutte is upset about it, that’s fine.’ Next weekend, Klaver will speak at the GroenLinks party congress, together with the PvdA, ahead of the March 15 elections.