With the exception of Eline Vedder (second on the CDA list), the local candidates for the House of Representatives elections appear to be in an unelectable position. How do they see it themselves?
Well, how does a person end up on the electoral list? In the case of Xander Topma (SP) from Meppel, it was quite simple. A quick scribble to the nomination committee was sufficient. Topma works for the SP party magazine – “my direct manager is the party chairman” – and is a councilor in Meppel. “I am no stranger within the party.”
Bart van Dekken (CDA) from Zuidwolde, as faction leader in the Drenthe Parliament – “and wingman of deputy Jumelet” – is also unknown within his party, but nevertheless a barrage of committees and assessments awaited him before he reached 38th place on the candidate list. was put.
Balkenende
A beautiful place, he thinks. “During Balkenende’s time I simply entered the House. But I told the committee: just make sure that my colleague Eline Vedder is high on the list. They listened to me carefully!”
Cow and hare
Joke Luitwieler Giethoorn is in 37th place on the BBB. “The BBB had made a call among its members. I didn’t have the illusion that I would get into Parliament right away,” she admits. She thinks 37th place is a shame. “But it is what it is. And you never know how a cow catches a hare.”
She is therefore busy distributing flyers, has purchased advertising space in the door-to-door newspaper and is working in her area, in the hope that she will make an end with preferential votes and at least help BBB with many votes. “I will definitely try to catch that hare.”
Who do voters vote for when they turn the box behind her name red? “Someone with little experience in politics,” she says very honestly. “But with common sense and a lot of experience in healthcare, including as a complaints officer. Someone who also represents the interests of the region. Someone who knows what it is like when the GP disappears from the village and some villages can no longer be reached by public transport.”
‘We need the government in Meppel’
Topma also thinks it is important to make the regional voice heard in The Hague. “I registered because I think it is good that there are people from our region on the list. We need the government in Meppel, for example for the expansion of Meppel station. It is sometimes difficult to get the government’s eye on Drenthe.”
‘Wobke and Hugo were not really our men’
The CDA is improving somewhat in the polls, but, it seems, is in for a knock. BBB and NSC are strong competitors and then you have the old leadership of the Christian Democrats. “Wobke and De Jonge were of course not really our men.” The atmosphere in the campaign team has “never been better,” Van Dekken reveals. “We have a fantastic top 3 and the rest is also very good.”
Van Dekken has no burning ambition to end up in the blue seat in The Hague. “My domain is mainly in the province.”
Twentieth place is also no disappointment for Topma. “I never had the ambition that I necessarily wanted to go to The Hague. There are fantastic people on the list and they are right to be where they are.”
Moreover, MPs drop out for all kinds of reasons during the period of government, which means that candidates move up and can still end up in the House at a later time. “I’m not in it for bacon and beans. I believe that if you are on the list, you should also go if a seat becomes available.”
Topma has already received the first preference vote. “You can already vote abroad. My former neighbor has already voted for me from the Czech Republic.”