The letter was signed, among others, by MP Nicki Pouw-Verweij. He says the requests in the letter are “constructive proposals for the democratization and professionalization of the party”. The deputy does not want to call the letter a “burning letter”. He also said there would be no conflicts within the party. The letter, which is in the hands of the PNA, does not want to be shared by the party executive itself. This will then go to the members, says party president Adrien de Boer.
The proposals contained in the letter had already been put forward at last year’s shareholders’ meeting. But to the chagrin of the signatories of the letter, too little has been done with those proposals. Despite the fact that Pouw-Verwij does not want to call the letter a “letter of fire”, serious allegations are described. For example, the authors believe the party is “unstable” because few people have power within the JA21. “That leads to even tighter scrutiny instead of giving trust.”
‘constructive criticism’
Party director De Boer calls the content of the letter “constructive criticism”. ‘He is always welcome at JA21 and belongs to our young party which is still under construction. The board can agree and we also see room for improvement.’ He thinks the members want to hastily expand the party, while the party leadership stresses the importance of “controlled growth”. However, he sees “starting points” in the letter to “get started.”
JA21 was founded for the 2021 parliamentary elections by Joost Eerdmans (Member of the House of Representatives) and Annabel Nanninga (Member of the House of Representatives), after their split from the Forum for Democracy. It subsequently won three seats in the House of Representatives. JA21 is expected to win three seats in the next Senate election.