Member of Parliament Nilüfer Gündogan, from Weert, does not want to respond to the decision of her party Volt to expel her from the group and expel her as a party member until after the weekend.
Gündogan’s lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops announced this on Saturday.
Knoops says that an ‘action plan’ is being worked on, which she will present next week. He won’t say whether that means Gundogan will oppose the moves Volt has announced. “We don’t want to announce this now,” said Knoops.
From party and faction
Volt’s party board announced on Friday that it wants to expel Gundogan from the faction in the House of Representatives and from the party, because of the accusations against her of transgressive behaviour. The faction will vote on this on Tuesday, in which party leader Laurens Dassen and MP Marieke Koekkoek sit next to Gündogan. The party board will proceed with the expulsion at a meeting on March 28.
Also read: Volt permanently expels Gundogan from the group
Suspension
Thirteen people have reported, among other things, ‘pawing’ and ‘intimidation’ by Gundogan. When the first reports came in, the Gündogan faction suspended. He instituted summary proceedings and the judge ruled that the suspension had to be reversed. At first, Dassen said he would respect the judge’s ruling, but the party has since indicated that it will appeal.
Can’t force cooperation
“Members of parliament and groups are ultimately independent in a parliamentary democracy,” the board said in a statement on Friday. “The board of the association cannot force two elected representatives of the people (Laurens and Marieke) to continue working with her in a political group.”
Also read: Volt Member of Parliament: Gündogan must withdraw declarations
libel and slander
Gündogan has filed a complaint against the reporters and the party for defamation and slander. The withdrawal of these declarations was a condition for reconciliation for the board and Dassen. Instead of withdrawing it, Gundogan said Thursday in the TV program Jinek to expand the declarations.