While the D66 is on the rise in the forecasts for the national elections, the party has decided at a local level not to participate in the elections in Westerveld. D66 has too few suitable candidates.
“If you do it, you have to do it well and that is not possible now,” says party leader Levien Drost. Drost has been with the party for about thirty years and was in 10th place on the electoral list in the last elections. The party received a seat in the municipal council. “I thought: I’m safe there. Not so,” he laughs.
The nine candidates in front of him could not run for party chairmanship for various reasons. For example, former list leader Anke Oosterhuis left as council clerk, meaning she could no longer have a role in the council. “Other people on the list moved or became ill, like my predecessor,” says Drost. “Tough luck.”
Partly because of his MS disease, Drost does not see a role for himself in leading the next board period. “I would have liked to participate in another round, but not as party leader. I am careful with my health and these are long, late evenings.”
Other members also thanked them for the position. According to Drost, the party has many elderly members who are unable to cope with the entire period. “It’s a shame,” says the group leader. “There is room for the D66 ideas in Southwest Drenthe. But people have also been overexploited.”
Simon Wisselink of the provincial branch of D66 also sees that there has been a lot of turnover in the party. “It’s a shame, but it may happen that a faction has to skip a period,” he says. “We will keep the flame burning and assume that we will be there again in four years.”