2006 VVD leadership election
Encyclopedia
The Dutch
liberal
party, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
(VVD) announced the results of its lijsttrekker
election on 31 May 2006. Mark Rutte, the staatssecretaris for Higher Education and Science
closely beat the Minister without Portfolio
for Migration and Integration, Rita Verdonk
and the backbencher Jelleke Veenendaal
.
Jozias van Aartsen
stepped down as chairman of the parliamentary party of the VVD in the House of Representatives and announced that he would not be top candidate
for the next elections
. The VVD leadership had consciously campaigned in the municipal election on a national ticket. The party however did not reach the set goal of 15% of the votes and actually lost 1.5% of the votes. To fill his position of political leader of the VVD, an internal election was scheduled.
It is generally expected that Mark Rutte will step down as staatssecretaris and become fractievoorzitter of the VVD parliamentary party because according to the VVD's Liberal Manifesto the party's leader should either be Prime Minister of the Netherlands
or chairman of the party's parliamentary party.
Politics of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...
liberal
Liberalism worldwide
This article gives information on liberalism in diverse countries around the world. It is an overview of parties that adhere more or less to the ideas of political liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world....
party, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...
(VVD) announced the results of its lijsttrekker
Lijsttrekker
Lijsttrekker is a Dutch term for the top candidate of a party on a party list. He or she is almost always the party's political leader. After an election, this person usually leads the party's faction in the States-General, or serves in a senior position in the Cabinet if his party is part of...
election on 31 May 2006. Mark Rutte, the staatssecretaris for Higher Education and Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
closely beat the Minister without Portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
for Migration and Integration, Rita Verdonk
Rita Verdonk
Maria Cornelia Frederika "Rita" Verdonk is a retired Dutch politician initially of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy until she was expelled in October 2007, she later formed her own party Proud of the Netherlands . She served as Minister for Integration and Immigration in Cabinets...
and the backbencher Jelleke Veenendaal
Jelleke Veenendaal
Jelleke Veenendaal is a Dutch politician and member of House of Representatives for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ....
.
Background
After the 2006 municipal electionsDutch municipal elections, 2006
The Dutch municipal elections of 2006 were held on March 7, 2006. About 11.8 million people could vote in 419 municipalities. Due to local redistricting, 15 municipalities have already held elections in January 2006 and 24 municipalities will hold elections in November 2006...
Jozias van Aartsen
Jozias van Aartsen
Jozias Johannes van Aartsen is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Mayor of the Hague since March 27, 2008....
stepped down as chairman of the parliamentary party of the VVD in the House of Representatives and announced that he would not be top candidate
Lijsttrekker
Lijsttrekker is a Dutch term for the top candidate of a party on a party list. He or she is almost always the party's political leader. After an election, this person usually leads the party's faction in the States-General, or serves in a senior position in the Cabinet if his party is part of...
for the next elections
Dutch general election, 2006
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on November 22, 2006. And followed the call for new elections after the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet....
. The VVD leadership had consciously campaigned in the municipal election on a national ticket. The party however did not reach the set goal of 15% of the votes and actually lost 1.5% of the votes. To fill his position of political leader of the VVD, an internal election was scheduled.
Candidates
Three VVD members put forth their candidacy.- Mark RutteMark RutteMark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010, as well as Minister of General Affairs in the Rutte cabinet...
: the current Staatssecretaris for Higher Education and Sciences was the first to put forth his candidacy. His candidacy is backed by the VVD leadership, including the party board and many prominent politicians such as Frank de GraveFrank de GraveFranciscus Hendrikus Gerardus de Grave is a Dutch politician.-References:* at parlement.com...
, former minister of Defence, Ivo OpsteltenIvo OpsteltenIvo Willem Opstelten is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Minister of Security and Justice in the Cabinet Rutte since October 14, 2010....
, the mayor of RotterdamRotterdamRotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and Ed NijpelsEd NijpelsEduardus Hermannus Theresia Maria Nijpels is a Dutch politician.-References:...
, the Queen's CommissionerQueen's CommissionerThe Queen's Commissioner is the head of a province in the Netherlands, who is chairman of both the Provinciale Staten and the Gedeputeerde Staten , but only has a right to vote in the latter...
of FrieslandFrieslandFriesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
. Rutte is the former chairman of the VVD's youth organisation, the JOVD and is also backed by them. After studying history and leading the JOVD Rutte became manager for UnileverUnileverUnilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
. In 2002 he became staatssecretaris for Social Affairs. After a cabinet reshuffle he became staatssecretaris of Higher Education and Science. Rutte is generally perceived to be on the progressive side of the VVD. He promised "to make the VVD a party for everyone and not just of the elite". His youthful and charismatic appearance have been likened to the successful leader of the PvdA Wouter Bos. Rutte was coordinator of the municipal election campaign of the VVD, which caused Van Aartsen's downfall.
- Jelleke VeenendaalJelleke VeenendaalJelleke Veenendaal is a Dutch politician and member of House of Representatives for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ....
: she quite unexpectedly put forth her candidacy. She has only been in House of Representatives for three years. Before that she worked as medical analyst and a management consultant. In parliament she has been a backbencher. She entered the race when only Rutte was candidate, claiming that without a counter-candidate, the race would be a sham. She entered the race without consulting the party board, though she did consult her husband. She was generally seen as having no chance to win the elections.
- Rita VerdonkRita VerdonkMaria Cornelia Frederika "Rita" Verdonk is a retired Dutch politician initially of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy until she was expelled in October 2007, she later formed her own party Proud of the Netherlands . She served as Minister for Integration and Immigration in Cabinets...
: the current Minister without PortfolioMinister without PortfolioA minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
for Immigration and Integration was last to put forth her candidacy, after a lot of attention from the media. Her candidacy is not backed by the VVD leadership, but she is backed by former VVD-leader and EU-commissioner Frits BolkesteinFrits BolkesteinFrederik "Frits" Bolkestein is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He served as a Member of the House of Representatives from 16 January 1978, until 5 November 1982, when he became State Secretary for Economic Affairs from 5 November 1982, until 14 July...
. She is often polled as the most popular minister within the cabinetSecond Balkenende cabinetThe second cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands formed on 27 May 2003. It consisted of three political parties: People's Party for Freedom and Democracy , Christian Democratic Appeal , and Democrats 66 , which is the smallest of the three.On 29 June 2006, D66 dropped its support for...
and is backed by many individual VVD members. Verdonk entered politics in 2003, when she became minister, she had only been member of the VVD for three years, she had been active within the Pacifist Socialist PartyPacifist Socialist PartyThe Pacifist Socialist Party was a Dutch left-socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is a predecessor of the GreenLeft.-Before 1957:...
and had voted for the Labour party before 2002. Verdonk is generally seen to be representative to the conservative and populist wing of the VVD. She has proposed cutting taxes and has appealed to the entrepreneurial spirit. She is known as Iron RitaIron LadyIron Lady is a nickname that has frequently been used to describe female heads of government around the world. The term describes a "strong willed" woman...
, for her stances on immigration and integration and her steadfast politics. She has recruited former Kay van der Linden as her campaign manager, who was also involved in Pim FortuynPim FortuynWilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List ....
's 2002 election campaign. Verdonk has never been member of parliament and could therefore according to Dutch law not enter parliament if she would have won the internal election.
Results
An independent committee oversaw the elections. 28,788 people voted in this election, which was 74% of the eligible VVD members. They voted mostly by telephone and via Internet. The full results were presented on May 31, 2006, in Hotel Okura in Amsterdam, where it was announced that Mark Rutte obtained 51.5% of the vote and won the election. Rita Verdonk came in second, with 45.5% of the vote. Jelleke Veenendaal obtained 3.0% of the vote. http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article336645.eceIt is generally expected that Mark Rutte will step down as staatssecretaris and become fractievoorzitter of the VVD parliamentary party because according to the VVD's Liberal Manifesto the party's leader should either be Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government...
or chairman of the party's parliamentary party.