The day after Mark Rutte announced his departure from politics, former MP André Bosman announced that he would like to become the new party leader of the VVD. It is not yet known who will nominate the VVD council, but it is clear who it will not be: Edith Schippers and Klaas Dijkhoff. “Although he has come up in many opinion polls as someone VVD members would like to see as party leader,” says political journalist Mats Akkerman.
According to a reconstruction by the CEO, Rutte would have already called his confidant former CEO Ben Verwaayen and Sophie Hermans on Sunday. The result was a meeting of the VVD leadership at the Verwaayen mansion, where Edith Schippers, party vice-president Bente Becker and party chairman Eric Wetzels also made an appearance. «That was the point where Rutte then announced: I’m stopping. There seems to have been a cake, tears have been shed.’ According to the CEO, Rutte was asked to stay, but he didn’t want to change his mind.
Movement
According to De Telegraaf, GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver called Rutte on Sunday evening to say a no-confidence vote awaited him and Rutte was angry about it. The idea of a no-confidence motion was also played out within D66, but the party wanted it to depend on how Rutte would act in yesterday’s debate. Shortly before the debate, Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag also called Rutte to tell him that a motion would be presented to him. By then, however, he had long since made up his mind.
And now the question of succession plays a role, and not only within the VVD. It’s not known how things will play out at D66, Akkerman says, “at CDA we mostly know who won’t.” In any case, the summer break is about to begin, all the explosive dossiers have been declared controversial. “They will prepare it in August, but it will be voted on in the week of September 12”.
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
