Municipal interests/BBBondgenoot in Midden-Drenthe is falling apart. Party chairman Jannes Kerssies and councilor Hetty Meijering want to merge with Onhouden Midden-Drenthe (OMD), but the board, three other councilors and the members of the party do not like that.
“We have no agreement about this within Municipal Interests. There is a difference of opinion about the future,” says Kerssies. “Some people are in favor, some people are against. We want to achieve this together in a good way. In any case, the approach is that we keep the name Gemeentebelang.”
For years, Midden-Drenthe had two parties that called themselves Municipal Interests. In addition to Municipal Interests BBBondgenoot, there was Municipal Interests Smilde-Beilen-Westerbork of faction chairman Charles de Haas. The latter party is now called Independent Midden-Drenthe.
“The merger is a process that has been going on for some time,” says De Haas. “We have had discussions and agreed with each other. Joining forces is a good thing. With Hetty and Niels (Maagd, councilor for OMD, ed.) we will soon have some younger people in the party. Jannes and I are a bit older and can use our experience. This means we have a solid party for the future. Together, the four of us can handle a lot.”
That is exactly what Kerssies has in mind. “We want to form a large, strong bloc, a municipal interest group where we can make a stand together.”
Gemeentebelangen/BBBondgenoot became the largest party in Central Drenthe during the municipal elections in 2022 and took a seat in the mayor and aldermen. But at the end of February the party lost confidence in the council due to a 15 million euro renovation of the town hall.
The party wanted to postpone the decision on the multi-million dollar renovation until after next year’s municipal elections. Municipal interests councilor Hetty Meijering, together with Niels Maagd from OMD, drew up a petition calling for the renovation to be postponed. That caused bad blood among coalition members. Reason for Kerssies to withdraw confidence.
The new college in Central Drenthe was opened a month and a half later. This includes all parties from the council, except Gemeentebelangen/BBBondgenoot and Onhouden Midden-Drenthe.
This council period was not only noisy around Gemeentebelangen/BBBondgenoot, but also around Onhouden Midden-Drenthe. The party won five seats in the 2022 elections, but during the past three years three councilors left the party. Gineke Radix founded Positive Vooruit, Arjen Warners and Trienke Buitendijk followed her at the end of last year.
De Haas believes that with the two new council members he has a stable party within the ranks. “We have compared all the pluses and minuses and I don’t think this composition gives rise to any difference of opinion. For the longer term, this is a very good thing. We will continue to work on this in the near future.”
Kerssies would like to take the name Gemeentebelangen to the new party. “If that doesn’t work out, we will probably form a new club.”
Within Gemeentebelangen BBBondgenoot, the other council members are aware of Kerssies and Meijering’s plan. “They want to merge with OMD, the rest of the party and the board do not want that,” says councilor Jan Jonker. “We see the future differently and will wait and see what Kerssies and Meijering will do.”
Chairman Jarno Frenken confirms this. “It’s a shame that it turned out this way, but within the party we do not see a collaboration with Charles de Haas and Niels Maagd. That is not workable for us.” The party will continue to exist, but will continue under a different name. “Kerssies wants to take the name Gemeentebelangen with him and he has been granted that.”