Asser councilor Tirza van Brakel breaks with the PVV. This was preceded by weeks of internal hassle. She takes her seat with her and continues on her own. Party chairman Teun Kijf is ‘quite relieved’. “She has only caused misery.”
The split means that the PVV only has one seat left in the municipal council, while the party entered the council as a newcomer in March with two seats. Teun Kijf thinks it is a shame that the party has now lost a seat, but at the same time he does not want to make it too bad a situation.
However, it bothers him that Van Brakel is taking the council seat with him and continuing on his own. She does not keep an appointment. “In a conversation she had promised me that if she wanted to leave again, she would give up her seat. So that won’t happen.”
Van Brakel broke with a party before, that was in the previous period. She left the SP faction in 2024, and then continued on her own as Lijst Van Brakel. Towards the municipal elections, she joined the PVV Assen, with Kijf as leader. He then saw her as an asset, with a lot of experience in the field of youth care. Now he’s completely done with her.
Van Brakel, on the other hand, accuses the ‘PVV men’s club’ of all kinds of things that have rubbed her the wrong way, such as bad manners and not being given access to the expenditure of the faction allowance. “There was shouting and swearing. And when I asked about the finances, I was not given any clarity about it.”
For example, Van Brakel had difficulty with the fact that Bert Homan was a member of the PVV faction, but at the same time also paid himself as treasurer for his services. Kijf denies the allegations. “If there was anyone who could shout and swear, it was her. And she could easily get access to the faction compensation. But she just wanted to get rid of Bert Homan as treasurer and as faction supporter. But Homan helps us on all sides. If you want something, Bert will arrange that.”
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