“I think it’s responsible to partner with the candidates we found all over the Netherlands,” says Umtzigt, who has previously said he wants to grow moderately.
Umtzigt, 49, tops the list. Below him is Nicoline van Vroonhoven, his spokesman and former CDA MP. Omtzigt will later announce who will be the candidate for prime minister.
Notable names
Another notable name is Sandra Balmain, who has sounded the alarm on the benefits issue with an official memo. NRC columnists Rosanne Hertzberger (17th place) and Volkert Idsinga also appeared. Until a few weeks ago he was a member of parliament for the VVD party. Also on the list are several former CDA members: Olger van Dijk, Sander van Weveren and Diederik Boomsma.
It wasn’t easy to choose, Umtzigt says. More than a thousand candidates have registered for a place on the list. He had to make the choice in a short time. This was “a puzzle that was under a lot of time pressure,” he told RTL Nieuws:
In his party’s August presentation, he said he wanted to see his party grow steadily.
We now have to wait for the election manifesto for the new social contract. This will not come before November 1, that is, three weeks before the elections.
