Netherlands: Labour leader Job Cohen stands down and quits parliament

Labour leader Job Cohen is standing down as both head of the parliamentary party and as an MP with immediate effect, the PvdA announced on Monday afternoon.

Cohen, the former mayor of Amsterdam, took over the job before the 2010 general election, winning the party 30 seats in parliament, just one less than the ruling VVD. Since then, however, the party's fortunes have plummeted and last week there was renewed speculation about the direction of the party and Cohen's position

Cohen said in a statement on the PvdA website he wanted to contribute to a 'decent society' but had been unable to bring that message across sufficiently. Matters came to a head last week when Cohen and new party chairman Hans Spekman gave an interview to Trouw which seemed to indicate they planned a move to the left. The interview was criticised by a number of PvdA stalwarts and according to some reports, over half of the Labour MPs wanted Cohen to quit.

For more: DutchNews.nl - Labour leader Job Cohen stands down and quits parliament

Dutch Labor Party seeks confrontation with right-wing Wilders Freedom Party in 2012

The Dutch Labor Party PvdA will specifically seek confrontation with the right-wing Freedom Party PVV in 2012, PvdA leader Job Cohen said last Friday.

The PvdA is planning to destabilize the government, which has been led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte since October 2010. "The sooner this government leaves the better," Cohen was quoted by newspaper De Telegraaf as saying.

The PVV is not officially part of the minority government consisting of the Liberal Party VVD and the Christian Democratic Party CDA, but has agreed to support the economic policy in return for tougher immigration rules.

For more: Dutch Labor Party seeks confrontation with right-wing Freedom Party in 2012 - People's Daily Online

The Netherlands: Labour party demands apology from new Dutch PM

In what looks like a coordinated press offensive, Dutch Labour leader Job Cohen has accused Prime Minister Mark Rutte of being inconsistent about government ministers with dual nationality. Labour has been in opposition since the swearing in of a new right-wing cabinet earlier this month.

Mr Cohen is demanding an apology for a remark made by the current Prime Minister in 2007, when he was a member of the opposition. At the time, free-market liberal Mark Rutte said that Labour Deputy Minister Nebahat Albayrak, who is of Turkish descent, should give up her Turkish passport in favour of her Dutch one. But three years on, Mr Rutte himself appointed a deputy Health minister with dual Dutch and Swedish nationality, saying he "saw no problem" in doing so.

Labour leader Cohen told national dailies de Volkskrant and AD today, Monday that as early as 2007, Mr Rutte appeared to have been in thrall to Geert Wilders' Freedom Party. The Freedom party got 15 percent of the votes in the general election on 9 June 2010 on a nationalist, anti-Islam platform. Mr Wilders' 24 MPs currently hold a key position, voting with Mr Rutte's minority right-wing government without being part of it.

Labour party demands apology from Dutch PM | Radio Netherlands Worldwide