Henk Nijboer has applied on Tuesday to become the new party leader of the Labor Party. Nijboer made this known in a letter to the party. The 39-year-old MP is the first PvdA member to announce his ambitions to succeed Liliane Ploumen, who resigned last week.
Nijboer is currently the financial spokesperson and deputy leader of the PvdA in the House of Representatives, in which he has been a member since 2012. “With my broad financial-economic knowledge and experience in negotiations, I think I can represent our group well in debates and towards the cabinet. So that we show the Netherlands that a different policy is possible. With a fair income policy, social choices and sensible policies for a clean, sustainable economy,” Nijboer writes.
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In his letter, the MP also discusses the collaboration with GroenLinks. “In recent years, as a financial spokesperson, I have consistently committed myself to a joint counter-budget, also recently with GroenLinks,” he writes. “The collaboration of recent times makes me want more.”
Exactly one week ago, Liliane Ploumen stepped down as party leader and party leader of the PvdA. In a statement, Ploumen said the party leadership did not suit her and that she did not consider herself “proficient enough” in the plenary debate. Other PvdA MPs can announce their candidacy until Thursday. A day later, the group votes on the new chairman.