Entire GroenLinks faction resigns: 'We do not feel heard'

Internal conflicts over climate plans and nitrogen policy

The entire GroenLinks faction in the House of Representatives has resigned. The faction leaders Jesse Klaver, Kathalijne Buitenweg and Laura Bromet announced this at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. According to the party leaders, the reason for the resignation is that they feel insufficiently heard in the coalition negotiations about the climate and nitrogen plans of the new cabinet.

Klaver: 'No longer able to take responsibility'

"We have come to the conclusion that we can no longer take responsibility for the implementation of the coalition agreement in this way," said Klaver. "We have fought hard in recent months to achieve a breakthrough on climate and nitrogen. But the results are disappointing. We do not feel heard and our points have not been taken into account sufficiently."

The GroenLinks faction had already expressed dissatisfaction with the coalition agreement last week. The party considered the climate and nitrogen plans to be insufficiently ambitious. GroenLinks also wanted a wealth tax to be included in the agreement, but this was rejected by the other coalition parties.

Coalition negotiations continue

The resignation of the GroenLinks faction means that the coalition negotiations between VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie will have to continue without GroenLinks. It is not yet clear whether the other parties will make concessions to GroenLinks in order to keep the party in the coalition. The negotiations are expected to be completed by the end of the year.