Candidates
D66 has had leadership elections since the 1960s, traditionally there are few high profile candidates who are joined by hopefuls, who are generally not perceived to stand a chance. In the media Van der Laan and Pechtold are described as real candidates while the other six are seen to stand no chance.
- Alexander Pechtold, Minister without Portfolio for Governmental Reform and Kingdom Relations. He was chair of D66 between 2002 and 2005. He has campaigned as anti-establishment candidate, criticizing the "dirty and filthy" politics of the Hague. Van der Laan made several personal attack against him because he wanted to re-think the Uruzgan mission, which caused the fall of the previous political leader of D66, Dittrich. Pechtold however is supported by prominent party member, such as D66-founder Hans van Mierlo, who believes that Van der Laan is "partly responsible for the current crisis in the party."
- Lousewies van der Laan, chair of the parliamentary party. She was member of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2003, when she entered the House of Representatives. Her campaign is oriented towards the grassroots of the party. During the campaign she made two clear statements: freedom of education is bad for the integration of migrants and the other candidate, Pechtold, has lost his integrity. She has come under some criticism for her personal attacks against Pechtold.
The other candidates are:
- Ricardo Gomila Vergara, who describes his current position within D66 as an "active critical member in congresses and relevant meetings"
- Simone Kuiter, who is founder of the idealist organisation For Love And Grow, which she has campaigned for world peace for the last two and a halve years.
- Carlo Strijk, who has a background in television, he presented the program 'Hartedieven'.
- André van Wanrooij, who was also candidate for the 2003 D66 leadership election, but lost.
- Hein Westerouen van Meeteren, who was ninth on the D66 list for the 2002 election, but did not enter parliament.
- Jan Zelle, who is chair of D66 in the city council of Zwolle since 2002.
Read more about this topic: 2006 Democrats 66 Leadership Election
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