It was quite a remarkable moment. Member of Parliament Grethe van Geffen faced her former party members of the VVD in the Amsterdam court. She not only believes that she was wrongly expelled from the group, but also wants to force through the courts that she can return. But the VVD members don’t feel like that.
Until a year ago, they were still sitting comfortably next to each other in the benches of the Provincial Council. But how different it is now. Before the trial, they are in the hall about twenty meters apart. They don’t talk to each other, or even exchange glances at all.
In fact, the rumblings within the group already started in 2020. Van Geffen said he had trouble with the way of meeting within the party. In particular by Commissioner Cees Loggen. Things go wrong again in August 2021. She says she feels intimidated by Loggen and an appointment is made for a meeting to come to a solution.
But it won’t come to that. The bomb explodes and Cees Loggen cancels the conversation. An extra group meeting will follow where Van Geffen’s performance will be discussed. Party members state that she often ignores agreements and that she must substantiate the accusations. The States member himself says that he was overwhelmed by the content of the meeting, where she eventually from the group is voted on.
Inquisition
According to Van Geffen’s lawyer, the attitude of her party members at the time was unacceptable. “She has been publicly slammed and dismissed as untrustworthy. It was a kind of inquisition.”
When the judge asked about concrete examples of intimidation, it became too much for Van Geffen. Sobbing, she said: “If you enter into a discussion, you will be interrupted and contempt will follow. If you persist, you will be punished. Then I show diva behavior, and it is said that I am unworthy of the VVD. I do not know why I am still there. to cry about. It’s just trauma.”
Hope to return
But according to her former party members, the trust was simply gone, and they do not want her back in the group. Afterwards, Grethe van Geffen explains why she still wants to go back to a faction that she doesn’t like, and that she herself has taken to court.
“I am not resentful. I am a VVD member in heart and soul. And now they all say they are against my return. But individually I hear other stories. I was chosen by the voter. So why should a group of people be allowed to determine who can sit in the VVD.”
North Holland is going through a difficult time. Including a housing crisis and a nitrogen crisis. So the question arises whether the politicians do not have more important matters than to fight mutual conflicts through the courts?
“Of course there are more important problems than this in North Holland,” says Van Geffen, who does not feel burdened. “That is precisely why it is important to have the largest possible VVD party. Another VVD member has switched to JA21, and the coalition only has one seat more than the opposition.”
Almost the entire VVD faction was present in the courtroom. Party chairman Erik van der Maas regularly shook his head when he heard the accusations. “I hate to see her like this,” he responded to her emotional story. “I also find it very annoying for her, but also for us. She has not kept to the agreements for some time. And then the limit is that someone is accused of intimidation without evidence. We have gradually lost confidence,” explained Van der Maas out to the right.
On the electoral list at the VVD
In addition to rehabilitation and a return to the group, Grethe van Geffen has an even greater goal. She also wants to be on the VVD electoral list again during the States elections next year. “I still have a lot of support, and I would like to continue.”
The judge will rule next Thursday, July 21.