The now departed PvdA Member of Parliament Gijs van Dijk has been guilty of transgressive behaviour. This was not limited to his private sphere, contrary to what he himself claimed. That’s in the independent research that the PvdA had set up in response to reports from a number of women.
The investigative agency spoke with a total of three reporters and with various people from Van Dijk’s political and private environment.
It is “plausible” that the women feel transgressive and/or unwanted treatment, says a summary of the study. “They have been lied to and deceived, they have been hurt and hurt.”
One of the reporters has been placed in “serious (professional) conscience and the political ambitions of another have been frustrated,” according to the report’s summary.
Van Dijk would be convinced that research would exonerate him
In Van Dijk’s summary statement when he was accused of transgressive behavior in February of this year, it seemed to be a private matter. “In my personal life I have not always been honest in the relational sphere”, was his reaction at the time.
The research firm now dismisses that statement as “unconvincing in light of the results of the investigation.”
Sources around Van Dijk already announced in February that the former MP was sure that the investigation would exonerate him. At the time, he would also feel surprised by the PvdA top to write a statement in which he gave up his seat in parliament during the investigation.
Van Dijk has also violated internal Labor Party standards, even when applied “with appropriate restraint”.
This means, among other things, that a PvdA member is aware that your behavior in your private life can influence your work. “It is important that private relationships do not influence or cannot influence professional functioning,” reads one of the rules.
Chick: ‘Conclusions are painful and serious’
Despite its own request to start an investigation, the party board is shocked by the conclusions.
“The findings of the independent investigation are sad and serious and in no way compatible with the position of MP on behalf of the PvdA,” party chairman Esther-Mirjam Sent wrote in a short statement.
Parliamentary leader Attje Kuiken says it is good that the investigation has now been completed. “The conclusions are painful and serious, the faction adopts the decision of the party board and that means that there is no longer any place for Gijs van Dijk in the PvdA House of Representatives faction.”
Van Dijk entered the House of Representatives in 2017, before that he was on the board of the FNV. In recent years, he mainly spoke about the labor market.