Jos van Rey (77) of the Liberal People’s Party Roermond (LVR) becomes alderman in the council of Roermond. Trainer Dirk Franssen announced this in a press release on Friday.
That was out of the question for years because of his conviction for official corruption and election fraud.
New lecture
The new council consists of five aldermen: two from the Liberal People’s Party Roermond (LVR) and one each on behalf of GroenLinks, VVD and PvdA. The LVR is the largest faction in the city council with eleven seats, followed by GroenLinks with five and VVD and PvdA with two seats each.
Also read: Informer LVR: ‘Conversations took place in a good atmosphere’
Candidate aldermen
In addition to Van Rey, Dirk Franssen is also nominated as alderman on behalf of the LVR. For GroenLinks this is Marianne Smitsmans, for the VVD Vincent Zwijnenberg and on behalf of the Labor Party Felix van Ballegooij. Initially, discussions were held with three parties and the CDA. But Franssen excluded this party from further negotiations on Wednesday.
According to Franssen, ‘work can continue on a definitive coalition agreement in broad outlines’ in the coming period. Discussions will soon be held with the parties about portfolio allocations.
Eleven seats
In the municipal elections in March, the LVR rose from nine to eleven seats, thereby remaining the largest party. The gains for the LVR came from almost all sides. GroenLinks, the CDA and the VVD all submitted votes.
For eight years, the LVR in Roermond was boycotted by the other major parties because former alderman Jos van Rey was suspected and later convicted of fraud. That exclusion has ended since the last elections when GroenLinks and VVD announced that they would like to participate in the proposed coalition. The LVR is a split from the VVD and was created in 2013 when the VVD pressured Van Rey to abandon his candidacy for the 2014 elections on suspicion of corruption. In April 2015, the VVD expelled Van Rey.
Van Rey, former alderman of the VVD, was convicted in 2017 for corruption and election fraud after a long-drawn-out case. He was given a suspended prison sentence and banned from holding public office for two years.
Also read: LVR wants to co-manage: ‘But under our leadership’