Never drowned in the Hague bubble, always an outsider: while the Netherlands stared at the right, Coen van de Ven saw what was happening on the left. He describes the merger between GroenLinks and PvdA as a marriage with relationship problems. It’s all very personal: there’s swearing, there’s shouting, there’s screeching. But it is also sometimes an almost infatuation between people. “And then suddenly Jesse Klaver is abandoned by Ploumen.”
Secret meetings in an allotment garden under a flight path to Schiphol, rebellious WhatsApp groups and departing members: the image of a left-wing movement looking for cohesion is anything but idyllic. “In the meantime, the anger at the system is focused on the left, while the right mainly rules. Moralism is dangerous these days.” But he is not pessimistic about the future of the left: “A merger is never immediately successful. You start with a loss.”
Do you have questions, suggestions or ideas about our journalism? Send an email to [email protected].
The interview can also be viewed on YouTube.
Do you have questions, suggestions or ideas about our journalism? Send an email to [email protected].
The interview can also be viewed on YouTube.
- Presentation:
- Pieter van der Wielen
- Editing and production:
- Merel van Waalwijk van Doorn
- Mixing:
- Audio chief
- Music:
- Rufus van Baardwijk
- Photo:
- NRC
- Presentation:
- Pieter van der Wielen
- Editing and production:
- Merel van Waalwijk van Doorn
- Mixing:
- Audio chief
- Music:
- Rufus van Baardwijk
- Photo:
- NRC
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