Dutch Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz on Wednesday announced her candidacy to lead outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party in elections. If elected, Yeşilgöz will be the first female prime minister.
Dutch Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgoz on Wednesday announced her candidacy to lead outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party in elections this autumn.
Rutte, the longest-serving Dutch prime minister, said on Monday he would leave politics following the collapse of his government on Friday over asylum policy. He will continue to serve in a caretaker role until a new cabinet is installed.
Yesilgoz, 46, who immigrated to the Netherlands from Turkey as a child, would be the first woman to lead the VVD party in national elections.
According to the Dutch media, Yeşilgöz is considered the strongest candidate for VVD. If elected as the leader of VVD, Yeşilgöz will be the Netherlands’ first female prime minister.
What’s happening in Dutch politics?
Last week, the four-party coalition government in the Netherlands collapsed due to disagreements arising from the VVD’s insistence on a strict immigration and asylum plan.
Mark Rutte, who has been in the prime minister’s seat for approximately 13 years, announced earlier this week that he would be stepping down from politics and would not lead the VVD in the upcoming early elections expected to take place in November.
Following Rutte’s decision, the search for a new leader within the Netherlands’ largest party, VVD, began. Prominent figures within the party, such as former ministers Klaas Dijkhoff, Edith Schippers, and Jeanine Hennis, announced that they would not be running for the VVD leadership.
The Dutch media announced that the leading contender for the party leadership is Security and Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz.
Regarding the media comments, Yeşilgöz initially stated, “This is an honorable but significant decision. That’s why you need to carefully consider it.” Then, she officially announced her candidacy.
Yeşilgöz also stated in an interview with De Telegraaf, one of the country’s leading newspapers, that she is ready to “make the Netherlands even stronger and more resilient” as the successor to Prime Minister Rutte.
About Dilan Yeşilgöz
Dilan Yeşilgöz has been serving as the Minister of Justice in the Netherlands since 2022, and she has previously held positions as a deputy minister and member of parliament. Until 2017, she was also a member of the Amsterdam City Council.
Yeşilgöz, who says, “If there were no asylum policy in the Netherlands, I would never be here,” was also leading negotiations within the Dutch government regarding asylum and immigration policies.
The VVD’s proposal to have refugees from conflict zones return home once the war is over and to impose limitations on family reunification for these individuals led to the government’s collapse when it was not accepted by the other coalition partners.
If elected as the party’s leader, Dilan Yeşilgöz, who is herself an immigrant, will strive to implement VVD’s strict immigration policies.
Born in Ankara in 1977, Yeşilgöz is the daughter of Yücel Yeşilgöz, a trade unionist from Tunceli who was affiliated with the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DİSK) before the military coup on September 12, 1980.
After the coup, Yücel Yeşilgöz fled Turkey and sought asylum in the Netherlands in 1980.
Dilan Yeşilgöz, along with her mother and sister, fled to the Greek island of Kos by boat in 1984 and then sought refuge in the Netherlands as refugees.