The municipality of Stein will receive a coalition of the local parties Democratic Independents Stein (DOS), Steins Belang and VVD. Those three parties have a narrow majority of 11 of the 21 seats in the city council.
DOS has 8 seats, Steins Belang and VVD 2 and 1 seat respectively.
Coalition
The three parties were also together in a coalition during the past term of office. This also included the CDA. But that party has announced that it will opt for the opposition after it fell from 2 to 1 seat in the elections. The party says it wants to build the future of the party from the opposition.
Party leader and alderman Danny Hendrix of DOS has had three rounds of talks with parties in recent weeks.
Negotiations
As by far the largest party, DOS takes the lead in the negotiations. Ultimately, there were two options on the table. One was a collaboration between the two largest parties DOS and CMB (Communicating with Citizens), together accounting for 14 seats. Or largely continuing the existing coalition.
“Although both variants could be fine, we have come to the conclusion that there is a slight preference for further discussions with Steins Belang and VVD,” said DOS leader Danny Hendrix. “The final decisive factor was that the current coalition has been a stable combination over the past seven years, in which the content has been worked together in a very pleasant and constructive way”, says Hendrix.
Collaborate
He does say that it is the intention that coalition and opposition parties will cooperate even more emphatically. According to Hendrix, all parties believe that agreements should in any case be made about housing, the social domain and the transition to sustainable energy.
“Everyone has indicated that they want and are able to work together with everyone. And that’s positive. The conclusion is therefore that great strides have been made in recent years in improving personal relationships and the relationships between parties,” explains Hendrix. He has noted that working with all parties on a council program for this term of office is still a step too far.
coalition agreement
Political leader Hendrix of DOS expects to be able to present a coalition agreement in a council meeting in mid-May. The intention is that the aldermen are also mentioned.