Omroep Flevoland – News – Political crisis complete in Almere, VVD also leaves coalition

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The largest college party in Almere, the VVD, is leaving the coalition. Group leader Lesley van Hilten announced this during the council meeting on Thursday evening. There is an irreconcilable difference of opinion between the Liberals and the other coalition parties.

The VVD wants to break open the 2022 council agreement to make new agreements about the city’s finances. In addition, the burdens for Almerers of the party must not be increased.

Financially difficult
The VVD therefore needs to cut back on municipal expenditure. The other five council parties, D66, SP, Party for the Animals, Leefbaar Almere and the CDA, would not agree with this. The VVD faction therefore concludes that it is not useful to continue discussions with the other coalition parties.

The city is having a hard time financially. Almere closed 2023 with a deficit of 43 million euros. The municipality’s piggy bank went up in smoke, while the coalition agreement stated that a buffer of 60 million euros would be built up.

This is how faction leader Lesley van Hilten announced the departure of the VVD:

The rest want to continue
The remaining five coalition parties reacted with bewilderment to the VVD’s decision, says D66 faction leader Meke Smeulders. She indicates that the rest of the coalition wants to continue. An independent process supervisor will then hold discussions with all parties in the council. The coalition hopes to nominate a supervisor next week.

There was no debate about the situation on Thursday evening. Earlier in the evening, two council members had become unwell, meaning they could not participate in the debate. The departure of the VVD will therefore be further discussed next week.

Christian Union left earlier
The VVD is now the second party to leave the coalition prematurely. The Christian Union left the coalition a month and a half ago after their own councilor Roelie Bosch resigned. She received no support for her plan to cut back on youth care. Since then, the coalition has been one seat short of a majority in the council.

VVD councilor Julius Lindenbergh is also leaving the council. He will remain at work for another month to complete his duties.