Rutte lashes out at left-wing parties in campaign interview
Ahead of the state parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Mark Rutte lashed out against the merger of PvdA and GroenLinks, saying GroenLinks would soon form a joint parliamentary group in the Senate. The VVD leader told his Telegraaf that a possible victory for the left “would be bad news for the hard-working Dutch”.
A poll last week by I&O Research showed that PvdA/GL could be the largest faction in the Senate. Opinion polls show both parties on par with the VVD. The new state legislature will elect him a senator in May. After the collapse of the Democratic Forum, the VVD is now the largest political party there.
“If they become the biggest party, they will develop tremendous confidence. I think the VVD should stop that move already,” said Mr Rutte, whose fourth cabinet does not have a majority in the Senate. “If the ruling coalition wins or approaches a majority, we can take a more sober policy. We’ve been trying to dispel this left-wing cloud, and it’s going to come back.” “
The Cabinet has already submitted proposals to the Senate, such as pension reform, relying heavily on the Labor Party (PvdA) and the Green Left. Rutte was concerned that his large PvdA/GL parliamentary group would make too many demands. Furthermore, he said it was already difficult to do business with parties with VVD rights.
Rutte was interviewed by a Dutch newspaper with Edith Schippers. She is her leader on her VVD list for Senate elections. Her return to politics has sparked speculation about her potential successor to Rutte as leader of the VVD. But they didn’t want to comment on it. Rutte has not yet decided what he wants to do, and Sippers said the party is considering it.
https://nltimes.nl/2023/01/28/rutte-lashes-left-wing-parties-election-campaign-interview Rutte lashes out at left-wing parties in campaign interview