Everything on the left revolves around the merger question, except the merger question, which revolves around power. And if it is up to the members of GroenLinks and the PvdA, the two parties would be better off as one strong power bloc, starting with the formation of one joint faction after the Senate elections next year.
With a large majority, the supporters of both parties rallied behind that plan on Saturday. At the party congress of the PvdA in Nieuwegein, 76.8 percent of the voters opted for the joint senate faction. In a referendum by GroenLinks, that was 80 percent.
For supporters of closer cooperation, the PvdA congress in particular brought good news. There the members even went further than their own party board, by also supporting a proposal to present a joint electoral list prior to the elections to the Senate.
There are plenty of differences – still. GroenLinks organized member meetings in recent weeks to discuss the collaboration and surveyed the supporters with a digital member consultation.
At the PvdA in Nieuwegein, the day starts with the singing of the Internationale, Joop den Uyl shirts are for sale in stalls, technology sputters in the hall during the vote.
But it is as if those differences have become noticeably smaller on Saturday afternoon, when the results are announced almost simultaneously. It is not yet a merger – not yet – but something has changed.
“This was not fifty-fifty,” says a good-humoured Kati Piri at the PvdA. As a Member of Parliament, it was Piri who started the discussion about a joint list and faction in the Senate this spring with a speech in Houten, not far from the room where the PvdA will meet on Saturday. “Such a result means that we also have less doubts about whether our members want this.”
“Finally no more casual cups of lukewarm coffee,” says a delighted Frank van de Wolde in the conference room in the morning prior to the voting. The proposal to form not only one left-wing group, but also one list is his. Ultimately, Van de Wolde sees the most in a full merger. But it is not that far yet, he reassures his skeptical party members. “Let’s not make it bigger than it is: we are not voting on a merger today.”
Still, many proponents can hardly hold back when expressing their support. They want to defeat Rutte, win elections, gain power to realize left-wing plans. “If we want a left-wing prime minister in three years’ time, we must take all the steps today to get there,” said a spokesperson.
Clover: big breakthrough
The top of GroenLinks was also extremely satisfied with the outcome of the referendum. “This is the major breakthrough in left-wing cooperation that we have been waiting for so long,” party leader Jesse Klaver said in an initial response on Saturday afternoon. “The biggest breakthrough since the 1970s.”
Party chairman Katinka Eikelenboom is pleased with the many votes cast – with more than 15,200 “the highest turnout ever” – and the convincing majority of 80 percent in favor of merging political groups in the Senate is “a very strong mandate”. GroenLinks has more than 32,000 members. Eikelenboom: “After years of talking about left-wing cooperation, we are now confidently taking the next step together, towards a left-wing future.”
That the members of the PvdA actually want to go a step further – with a joint electoral list prior to the elections to the Senate in 2023 – the chairman accepted with a smile on his face: “I can imagine something. In the near future we will look at what the next steps in left-wing cooperation can be.”
In consultation with the members, Klaver added. “I don’t know where this journey will eventually take us. In any case, we will do this step by step in consultation with our members.”
Setback for opponents
The resistance within GroenLinks, which became increasingly vocal in the last days of the digital referendum, ultimately failed to convince, admits Sabine Scharwachter of the ‘GroenLinksers against merger’ action group, which also did not expect to win the membership poll. “We expected a majority of between 60 and 80 percent; so this is the worst possible outcome.”
Among her supporters there is now “great disappointment and feeling of setback”. She hears that many opponents are considering canceling their membership of GroenLinks now. The former chairman of the youth department Dwars thinks this is premature and unwise. Scharwachter: “It’s not over yet. This referendum is the first step towards a merger with the PvdA, but not the last. The resistance to that is much greater. If we leave the party now, we can no longer organize resistance. We must remain vigilant.”
While the resistance against cooperation at GroenLinks was concentrated among young people, a few veterans took the lead in the PvdA. Former party chairman Hans Spekman is such an outspoken opponent. “I am very afraid that we will become Macron’s party,” he says. “That we are so preoccupied with power that we lose sight of the question: what do you want that power for?”
Ad Melkert, who spoke out against far-reaching cooperation this week in an opinion piece and also at the congress, is not convinced by the power argument. He fears that GroenLinks and the PvdA will be diametrically opposed to each other when discussions are about to become involved in heat pumps and polluting petrol cars. “The unrest that you are now seeing among farmers will also affect households in the future. Then I want the PvdA to have its own space. A sound of its own.”