D66 has been in crisis since de Volkskrant revealed this weekend that the D66 top has withheld a report for a year showing that party prominent Frans van Drimmelen has exhibited cross-border behaviour. The promise of the board to look again at the results of the investigation has not been able to calm the mood in the party. Critical supporters demand more explanation.
In an open letter that has been circulating since Sunday, more than three hundred D66 members demand that the board and party leader Sigrid Kaag provide clarification within a week about the way in which the #MeToo affair has been handled by the party top. In addition, a members’ meeting must be arranged within three weeks at which Kaag and the party leadership ‘be accountable’.
The letter was signed by (former) board members, department chairmen, councilors, local party chairmen and members of the Provincial Council. Former MP Matthijs Sienot also supports the call. The counter of the number of signatories is still increasing.
Some of these members with whom de Volkskrant spoke, indicate that they feel cheated by the party leadership. The published investigation by the Bing agency seemed to largely exonerate Van Drimmelen on February 24 last year. Kaag concluded on the basis of this report – just before the elections – that fortunately there was ‘no question of a structurally unsafe environment’ in her party.
As it turns out, the Bing investigation was not yet complete. Three weeks later, one and a half hours before the polls closed, the victim was shown the confidential attachment that showed that there had indeed been transgressive behaviour. The appendix with the incriminating conclusion has not been shared with the outside world, not even after repeated requests from the victim to publicly agree with her.
The D66 members want to know why these findings were kept under wraps, who in the party knew about them and why no measures were taken against Van Drimmelen.
In the open letter, members call it unacceptable that the party leadership has never made public the conclusions about Van Drimmelen’s cross-border behavior and that sanctions have not been imposed against him. ‘By inaction, the board has greatly damaged the trust between the party and the party leadership on the one hand and its members and voters on the other.’
The first attempt this weekend to calm tempers failed. Last Saturday, the party board announced that it would reconsider the Bing investigation. Kaag supports that step. But that is insufficient for the initiators of the open letter, Daphnie Ploegstra and Jelle Ages. ‘They are going to take another look at the research from that time. They’ve been able to do that for a year,” Ages says. ‘We want to know what happened and we want recognition for victims quickly.’ The board met the members on Monday. A new statement will follow on Friday, the board promises.
Party top remains silent
The party leadership of D66 does not seem to know how to respond to the revelations. While the list of critical signatories grows, party leaders – who showed concern for victims earlier this year – continue to The Voice – quiet. Including Kaag. Condolences to the victim, who has been fighting for recognition for what has been done to her since 2016, has not been publicly expressed by anyone in the party leadership. De Volkskrant approached the entire House of Representatives faction with the question whether it supports the open letter. None of the MPs responded to that question.
Party leaders such as the party leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives and the former party leader (Annelien Bredenoord, Jan Paternotte and Rob Jetten) refrain from commenting. Former party leader Jan Terlouw also does not want to respond substantively.
Party leader Kaag, who achieved a major election victory with the promise of new (moral) leadership, has so far refused to answer questions about her role in the matter. She is unreachable for the media. Five days before the publication, she received from de Volkskrant 35 questions about the affair, including the question of exactly when she knew about the withheld conclusion and how she acted subsequently. To date no answer has been received.
In a written response to the members, Kaag maintains that she ‘does not have or did not have access to’ the confidential part of the report in which Van Drimmelen establishes transgressive behavior. From written communication in the hands of de Volkskrant However, it turns out that the victim “attended” the party leader’s incriminating conclusions from the report around April 2021. Kaag did not want to discuss this with the victim, but referred her to the party’s lawyer. In December 2020, the woman had also contacted Kaag twice unsuccessfully.
Although there has been no public criticism from the highest party figures, it is also striking that they have not put out a wide safety net for Kaag. No one takes it publicly for the way the party leader and the board have handled the matter.
Kaag will have to explain to the members since when she was exactly aware of Van Drimmelen’s transgressive behavior and what actions she has taken. But the most important question that still hangs over her head is: why she has not taken up for a year and a half for a female party member who asked her personally for help three times.