The Senate members Peter Nicolaï and Niko Koffeman may continue as the faction of the Party for the Animals (PvdD). The presidency announced this on Monday afternoon. The decision means that the third member of the faction – group leader Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers – is now forced to use the name of the Visseren-Hamakers faction.
Visseren stated in an earlier letter to the President of the Senate that he was “separating from the faction of Messrs Nicolaï and Koffeman”. Secessionists, according to the Senate regulations, can “only use the name of the faction leader.”
I want to keep things together. Still
The decision of the presidium became necessary after the PvdD faction fell apart last Friday. Chairman Visseren-Hamakers wanted Koffeman to resign from the faction, because he had resigned from membership in October out of dissatisfaction with the party’s direction.
Nicolaï disagreed. This former lawyer and professor of administrative law subsequently put himself forward as chairman to keep Koffeman on board. According to Nicolaï, this proposal received the support of Koffeman, which meant that “there was a majority that Koffeman could stay.” Because of this behavior, Nicolaï was expelled from the party on Friday. From now on he forms a faction with Koffeman.
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‘Support’
A letter from Senate President Mei Li Vos published on Monday emphasizes that the decision of the presidium has nothing to do with the positions of the senators or those of the party board.
In a response, PvdD says it regrets that Visseren-Hamakers is no longer allowed to use the party’s name. “However, this does not change the actual situation. Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers is the only representative of the Party for the Animals in the Senate and enjoys very broad support in our party.” Visseren-Hamakers could not be reached this afternoon.
In an initial reaction, Nicolaï, the current chairman of the PvdD parliamentary faction, is pleased with the clarity obtained and that, according to him, “the basis for my expulsion” has expired. He also says: “I want to keep things together. I still do. We were a really good team, but I didn’t want to participate in removing Koffeman.”
Nicolaï has now asked Boris Dittrich, member of the Senate for D66, to act as a mediator to resolve the conflict within the faction.
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Conflict at the Party for the Animals: two camps say they represent the party in the Senate
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