CDA and Eijsden-Margraten Lokaal (EML) will form the basis of the new coalition in Eijsden-Margraten. They do want a third party.
That is the conclusion of the talks that CDA and EML held with all parties last week, the two said in a joint statement.
Informer
Member of Parliament and former alderman of Sittard-Geleen Ton Raven has been appointed as informateur. He must see which third party suits CDA and EML best. The VVD seems to be the most obvious candidate. That party rose from 2 to 3 seats in the elections.
Stretched
The CDA and EML both ended up with 6 seats. That was a loss of 2 and 1 seat respectively. The combination of CDA, EML and VVD would account for 15 of the 21 seats in the city council. The new progressive combination list PRO of PvdA, GroenLinks and D66 also has a chance with its 4 seats. But the relationship between CDA, EML and the independent progressive parties has been rather tense over the past 4 years.
In any case, it seems unlikely that the new party ODE with its 2 seats will become part of the new coalition.
Breakpoints
Informer Raven – who was also elected again as a councilor for the City Party in Sittard-Geleen – has been instructed not only to look at the most suitable third coalition partner. He should also look at any breaking points and the desired distribution of alderman posts.
‘Logical’
Party leader Chris Piatek of EML thinks the choice for his party and the CDA as the basis of the new coalition is logical. “We are both almost the same size and together represent more than 7,000 voters. In recent years we have also worked together in a constructive and pleasant way”, says Piatek.
New dynamics
Party leader Nadine Steijns of the CDA states that she wants to go for a new group dynamic together with EML. And that includes a third party. “After the informateur has done his job, the three of us will draw up a coalition agreement in which we are also open to the input of the other parties. We aim to start with a new lecture on 1 June,” explains Steijns.
CDA and EML formed the coalition together for the past four years. They still had a large majority with 15 of the 21 seats.