Such a referendum is ‘the only right step forward’, the board thinks. After that, the board wants, as previously announced, a general meeting. The statement makes no mention of Baudet’s membership, or his position on the board. On Friday, the board stated that Baudet had been deregistered as a board member, and they even wanted to take his membership away.
Due to the quarrel in the board, between Baudet and an ally on the one hand, and vice-chair Lennart van der Linden and Rob Rooken on the other, it is unclear exactly which ‘camp’ organized the referendum. Earlier, Rooken, among others, complained that the FvD’ers who are loyal to Baudet had taken control of social media accounts and emails. The board was not available for comment on Sunday evening.
How ‘binding’ the result of the referendum will ultimately really be, is still uncertain. Political scientist Tom Louwerse points out that such a referendum is an instrument that does not exist at all in the statutes (the party rules) and in the internal regulations of the FvD. And ‘party leader’ is also not an official position, Louwerse said on Twitter.
After media reports about anti-Semitic text messages from members of the youth branch JFvD, a huge conflict broke out at Forum. Baudet did not distance enough from the behavior of the youth club and would have made anti-Semitic statements himself, according to a large part of the party leadership. This was followed by an exodus: when it turned out that Baudet did not step down as party leader and party leader, many prominent figures left the top of the party.
Regional groups also seem to feel compelled to take sides. Some of the States factions in Overijssel and Flevoland have already left FvD and will continue under their own title. The Groningen faction will remain with Forum. “We support the political line of FVD with Thierry Baudet,” the Groningers say on Twitter on Sunday. The members of Parliament in Utrecht continue as an independent fraction. Given the developments at the party, they ‘no longer want to function under the FvD flag’. “This stands in the way of our provincial work.”
–
