The duties of the Gelderland King’s Commissioner John Berends (CDA) are provisionally fulfilled by Henri Lenferink (PvdA). This was stated by outgoing Minister of the Interior Hugo de Jonge (CDA). announced on Wednesday evening. Berends temporarily stepped down last week after more than ten officials accused him of inappropriate behavior.
The employees accused Berends of verbal intimidation, gossip, bullying and in some cases also of physically inappropriate behavior. His behavior is said to have created a culture of fear at the Gelderland provincial government. Berends says he does not recognize the allegations. He initiated an independent investigation into his own conduct, which is currently underway.
Also read: ‘Like it or not,’ said John Berends when he joined the CDA in 1984
Berend has been the King’s Commissioner in Gelderland since 2019. Before that, after a career in Zwolle municipal politics, he was mayor of Harderwijk and Apeldoorn.
Lenferink resigned as mayor of Leiden at the beginning of this month, an office he has held since 2003. This made him the longest-serving mayor in the Netherlands. Before 2003, he was active for seventeen years as a municipal councilor and alderman in Arnhem. “He is a director with an enormous track record,” said Minister De Jonge on Wednesday evening. “Gelderland is in good and trusted hands with him.”