Earlier this week, the CDA Member of Parliament also announced Agnes Mulder his departure. She will become director of the VNO-NCW MKB employers’ organization in the north of the country. Raymond Knops, MP and former state secretary for the interior, also left the Binnenhof at the end of January to become chairman of the Dutch defense and security industry council, representing the interests of this sector.
Loss of place
Mulder, Geurts and Knops were among the most experienced MPs in the Christian Democrats. Their party has suffered significant losses in several elections in recent years. Recently, the CDA fell from 74 to 43 state seats in provincial elections. It appears that Wopke Hoekstra’s party will retain five of the nine seats in the Senate.
Hoekstra, on the other hand, does not want to know anything about an exodus from his party’s parliamentary group. While he acknowledges he lost two experienced employees in one week, he thinks there remains a good mix of experienced and young talent. The CDA deputy prime minister specifically points out that both Geurts and Mulder meant “a lot” to the CDA, and that both will continue to do so in their new positions.
‘honorable’
Prior to joining the House of Representatives, Geurts was, among other things, a councilor in the Gelderland borough of Barneveld. “It is an honor to become acting mayor of Maasdriel”, says Geurts on Twitter. ‘My commitment is to be meaningful to all residents and the region, to have a liaison role and to serve developments. It has been a privilege to have been a member of Parliament for more than 10 years.’
President of the group Pieter Heerma thanks Geurts on Twitter for the many years of collaboration in the CDA parliamentary group, his ‘individual contribution’ and ‘great commitment to agriculture and social housing’. Maasdriel will receive Geurts as ‘a complete and involved interim mayor, but above all a loyal, sincere and warm person like mayor .’
Mulder will be succeeded by Bart van den Brink, former political aide to CDA minister Hugo de Jonge. It is not yet known who will succeed Geurts.