The international community, with the Netherlands in the lead, must enforce a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. This was said by party leader Esther Ouwehand of the Party for the Animals on Sunday afternoon at the campaign kick-off in Amersfoort. “Everyone is beyond shocked by the atrocities committed by Hamas and we have no choice but to condemn them unequivocally,” Ouwehand said. “And we sympathize with the violence against innocent civilians in Gaza, where people are being killed, where innocent people are being cut off from water and electricity and, in short, are being bombed in order to leave their homes.”
At the start, Ouwehand also thanked party members for “kind expressions of support” during the recent fuss about its power struggle with the previous, resigned board. According to the new board, Ouwehand has not been guilty of integrity violations. “I won’t hide it. It was a painful and difficult time,” Ouwehand said. According to the party leader, members clearly saw that the conflict was not about herself, but about the future of the party. Ouwehand then quoted a tweet that she had seen. “The Party for the Animals has shown self-organizing and problem-solving capacity.”
Social security as the main theme
Not security of existence, but “security of existence” is the main theme for the party during the election campaign. The party on Sunday published a “fearless road map to survival” to combat the “climate and nature crises”. Ouwehand mentioned five points in Amersfoort: abolition of the livestock industry, more nature, no subsidies for polluters, healthy and affordable food and secure housing. Then her text on the reading screen got stuck. “I don’t know off the top of my head, folks,” she said. With a cheat sheet, she then also mentioned rights for animals and nature.
In Amersfoort, several candidates from the candidate list were also brought onto the stage: Frank Wassenberg, Eva Akerboom, Lammert van Raan, Anna Krijger, Bart Salemans and number two Ines Kostić, who argued for the immediate closure of Tata Steel. Ouwehand further mentioned The Hague, where the Party for the Animals recently joined the mayor and aldermen with a new councilor, Robert Barker. “The first major city where we will co-govern,” said Ouwehand. She called The Hague a “horrible city in terms of city government”, because the VVD was part of the coalition there for several periods of government.
This article is also part of our live blog: Ouwehand at the start of the election campaign: The Netherlands must take the lead in enforcing a ceasefire around Gaza