Congress PvdD
Anyone who thought that the Party for the Animals would change course with the leadership change will be disappointed. Christine Teunissen is taking the same course as her predecessor Ouwehand. After years of fierce contention and schism, Teunissen must make his debut as leader. Her mission is now to put an end to arguments and stop the loss of seats.
Parliamentary reporter multimedia
It is Teunissen’s first conference as leader of the Party for the Animals, the first in the somewhat larger Brabanthallen. The hall is still somewhat empty at the start due to problems on the track, but is slowly filling up. Giant fans are in the corners to reduce the temperature.
Esther Ouwehand receives thunderous applause from the members at her farewell. With tears in her eyes, fist raised, she takes it in. Christine Teunissen thanks her predecessor. “You have ensured that we now stand here as an adult party. That we have outgrown puberty.”
But that maturation was accompanied by significant growing pains. Ouwehand’s leadership was dominated by unrest. A row with the party board just before the 2023 elections caused the PvdD to lose seats for the first time in its existence. Disagreement over a new defense position later caused a split in the party. Founder and senator Nico Koffeman canceled his membership, retained his seat in the Senate and the name of the PvdD in the senate.
It is Christine Teunissen’s task to restore peace to the PvdD. How will she do that? In any case, things don’t seem to be changing. The speech she delivers at the beginning of the afternoon could just as well have been Ouwehand’s. “Our starting point is always: the most vulnerable,” says Teunissen. “We started with the animals. And from the interests of the animals, the interests of nature, ecosystems and people who are oppressed follow.”
Under Ouwehand, the PvdD was broadened from a one-issue party to a broader left-wing movement. A free Palestine became a spearhead for the House of Representatives faction. And it still is with Christine Teunissen. “International politics is watching the genocide in Palestine,” Teunissen said in her speech. “But not the Party for the Animals.”
A survey shows: that is exactly what the members want. “The peace will return by continuing with what we were already doing,” thinks one member. Another: “Christine should continue with what she is already doing.” Ole Schulten, political board member of the youth organization Pink, also thinks that the unrest in the party is over. “There is actually little disagreement,” he says.
Teunissen herself thinks so too, she says in conversation with this site. “We have a very nice party with 33,000 members. A number of them are now here at the congress. Together we establish the party line here, and in the past a number of people did not agree with that line. That is a great pity, but they are now gone.”
Vacancy: climate pusher
Teunissen also focuses on Prime Minister Jetten in her speech. She speaks of a ‘vacant vacancy of ‘climate pusher”. “I thought: maybe I should just submit my application openly here. Because in a short time, Rob Jetten has changed from a climate pusher to a prime minister who no longer pushes.” He has ‘surrendered to the fossil VVD’, says Teunissen.
“I stand on the shoulders of green giants,” concludes the new leader. “And I am going to work with you to create a beautiful world, every day. A world in which animals can be animals, and in which people can simply be human.” The applause for Teunissen is just as loud as for Ouwehand.
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