Astrid Nienhuis (VVD) will be the scout for the newly formed board of the Provincial Executive in Drenthe. Nienhuis is mayor of Heemstede in North Holland.
According to Gert Jan Schuinder of the BBB, Nienhuis was chosen because, as mayor, she stands above the parties. “She also has administrative experience,” says Schuinder in the RTV Drenthe program Cassata. “She has already done several formation processes and has also been a prosecutor.”
The scout’s nomination was accepted this morning during a coffee break in the Van der Valk hotel in Assen. “We invited everyone to sound out the bath water,” says Schuinder. “How is everyone doing? We have given everyone the space to see how to proceed.”
The BBB has been given the lead in exploring after last Wednesday’s election victory. In Drenthe, the BBB received 33.5 percent of the vote, which is good for 17 of the 43 seats in the Provincial Council.
The exploratory talks will start on Saturday 25 March. Not all parties want to take part immediately, but are waiting for the interpretation debate. That debate is the first debate of the new Provincial Council, on Wednesday 29 March. “There is no time to lose,” said Schuinder.
Schuinder does not yet want to go into too much detail about what the Provincial Executive will look like. He does let it appear that when there are five deputies in Drenthe, he sees that as an imbalance. When asked whether it should be two for the BBB, he responds with: “That’s a real chance.”