Lilianne Ploumen will stop immediately as a member of the House of Representatives and party leader of the PvdA.
Ploumen, who grew up in Maastricht, announced this on Twitter on Tuesday morning.
Leadership does not fit
In a statement on her decision, she wrote that the leadership of the party does not suit her well and that she is therefore not the ideal leader of the PvdA. “It’s important to be leading and opinion-forming on all topics,” she says. “To be not only a leader who can open up The Hague to what is going on in our country and in the world, but also one who is adept at the debate in the plenary hall of the House of Representatives. I think I am not good at that.” can deliver enough and that’s why I’m stepping back.”
Taken over
The politician took over the leadership of the social-democratic party from Lodewijk Asscher in January last year. He resigned because of his role in the childcare allowance affair.
Quieter waters
“Since then, I have fulfilled the honorable task of the leadership of our party and the faction with everything I have in me,” she writes. “I had intended to bring the party into calmer waters and at least lead to the municipal elections.”
Ploumen also resigns as a Member of Parliament because she ‘does not want to get in the way’ of the faction and its successor. “I will not become the oracle from Slotervaart, but I will remain what I was all these years, an involved party member.”