Sylvan Simons, leader of the left-wing BIJ1 party, and Farid Azarkan, leader of the center-left Denk party. The first she told the Volkskrant that she has no plans to run in the November parliamentary elections as BIJ1 director, and that she will step down from her leadership early. As Simons explained, her decision was directly influenced by the departure of two BIJ1 politicians, who are members of the Amsterdam city council. Azarkan also made it clear that she no longer needed Denk’s reins.
“It’s time for me to make a different decision and do other things,” Azarkan said according to the NL Times.
Remember that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra, who head the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democratic Appeal, respectively, have made earlier announcements about abandoning the policy.
