The municipality of Kerkrade will get a coalition of Citizens’ Interests, Ons Kerkrade, PvdA and the Elderly Party.
The intended coalition has a large majority in the municipal council with 20 of the 29 seats.
CDA and VVD disappear from coalition
Compared to the previous term of office, the CDA and VVD are disappearing from the coalition. Their places are taken by Ons Kerkrade and the Elderly Party. As by far the largest party with 11 seats, Citizens’ Interests is leading the coalition negotiations.
Outgoing alderman Huub Wiermans of Citizen Interests spoke individually with all 9 parties as an informant. On his advice, the choice for the coalition is determined by the faction of the party.
Continue to control optimally
Citizens’ interests expect to be able to continue to manage Kerkrade optimally in the coming years with 6 aldermen with the chosen variant. “We believe that we can lay a stable basis with these parties to continue our chosen course,” said party leader, party leader and alderman Tim Weijers of Citizen Interests.
Negotiations for coalition agreement
In the coming weeks, Citizen Interests, Ons Kerkrade, PvdA and the Elderly Party will work on a coalition agreement. Those negotiations will start next weekend. The aim is for the agreement to be ready by mid-May and for the new aldermen’s team to be installed in the city council at the end of May. It is clear that Citizen Interests supplies 3 aldermen and the other 3 coalition parties one each.
Election results
Citizens’ interests rose from 10 to 11 seats in the elections. Ons Kerkrade remained the second party with 4 seats, the same as in 2018. Coalition party PvdA dropped from 4 to 3 seats, Elderly Party Kerkrade doubled from 1 to 2 seats.
Opposition
The opposition will be formed by Local Alternative, SP, CDA, VVD and Hart voor Vrijheid. Local Alternative with 3 seats and the CDA with 2 seats remained the same in the elections. The SP fell from 3 to 2 seats. The VVD dropped from 2 to 1. The new Hart voor Vrijheid party debuted with 1 seat.