Leader merger GL and PVDA known: Paul Rosenmöller will lead left-wing combination in Senate

According to Rosenmöller, PvdA party leader Vos would rather work on internally building up the merger faction. What also played a role is that GroenLinks has become slightly larger than PvdA in the parliamentary elections.

It was decided about a year ago that the PvdA and GL, once the new Senate has been appointed, will join forces in one party, following member votes on this in both parties. PvdA and GL have been working together for some time, although not everyone in the rank and file is happy with that.

Disagreement

Opponents of the merger see major differences in blood groups. Critical PvdA members have particular difficulty with the greening urge of GL members. Conversely, some GL members see PvdA members as not very firm in their principles.

Proponents of left-wing cooperation hoped that PvdA and GL could together become the largest in the parliamentary elections, so that the coalition in the Senate could not avoid the left-wing bloc. That turned out differently, with the BoerBurgerBeweging as the big winner. When the new Senate is about to start, the coalition will have two routes for finding majorities: one over the left via the bloc and one over the right via the BBB.

Hand off

Where PvdA and GL are really accelerating their cooperation, an opposite movement can be seen in the provinces after the parliamentary elections. Although no formation has yet been fully completed, PvdA and GL are currently letting go of each other in several provinces. This is the case in Drenthe and Friesland, for example.

Rosenmöller acknowledges in the Trouw interview that the pace of mergers is stalling in some provinces. “The most important thing now is that this major project succeeds in the Senate,” he says. Rosenmöller is already dreaming of victory: “It is possible that the Netherlands will have a left-wing prime minister.”