Opinion maker and radio presenter Johan Derksen has received enough preferential votes for a seat in the municipal council of Aa en Hunze. The resident of Grolloo received 235 votes, which means he only has to tolerate party leader Jacco Fluks from Rolde within the VVD.
However, Derksen will not attend the municipal council meetings in Gieten, partly because he will be joining the television program Today Inside in the evening.
“I was with him yesterday and he is not going to do it,” says VVD party leader Jacco Fluks. “He has said this clearly several times in advance. But he was also surprised that so many people voted for him,” says Fluks.
The face of football program VI stood as a list pusher in place 20 of the local VVD, to help that party get more votes. The VVD won two seats and will soon be able to appoint five people for a place in the council, although there is not really a Johan Derksen effect. The difference with the party leader (1453 votes) is enormous and in many other parties in Aa and Hunze candidates received many more preferential votes.
Because Derksen does not take his seat, fellow villager Roel Poppe Lubbers moves on to his seat. Number 2 on the VVD list had also seen that coming.
“We already knew, of course, that he would not sit on the council, but there are still people who vote for him. That gives a somewhat distorted picture on the electoral list,” says Lubbers, who is happy that he will still get a place in the municipal council.
In addition to Johan Derksen, five other candidate council members received enough preferential votes for a seat. At least 165 votes were needed for this in Aa and Hunze.
At Gemeentebelang Aa and Hunze, Jeannet Reinders-Kors from Gasteren and Hellen Lensing from Schoonloo can now join the council. They received more votes than Foeke Bongers from Annerveenschekanaal and Simon Duursema from Gieten.
For the VVD, Bé Veninga from Gieten, Elina van Zanten from Schoonloo and Lisa Martens-Schuitema from Eext were given a preferential seat. Otto Mulder from Gasselte, Nanno Siegers from Rolde and Bert Tjarks from Balloo are therefore left out.
The only preferred seat of Groenlinks-PvdA is for Lotte Ploeger from Gasselte. She is 23 years old and will be the youngest councilor in Aa en Hunze. Gerard Roos from Nooitgedacht just doesn’t make it. At D66 and CDA, no one gets a preferential seat.
