Healthcare workers will stop working for two minutes at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday to protest against violence. In these two minutes of silence, they will commemorate an employee of a mental health institution in Heerlen who was stabbed to death at work last month.
The announced departure of outgoing Health Minister Ernst Kuipers has not gone down well everywhere in the healthcare sector. Some organizations are concerned that positive developments will come to a standstill, while others mainly praise Kuipers for his efforts and skills.
The outgoing Rutte IV Cabinet’s budget for next year was met with concerns from various sectors. Students feel forgotten, senior citizens are worried about cutbacks, the healthcare sector wants more attention, and Oxfam Novib called cuts to development cooperation “inhumane.”
A board for the 2021 elections. Photo: Remko de Waal
Netherlands has an ever-expanding range of political parties in parliament, due to the recent trend of dissidents breaking away after an intra-party row to form their own splinter group. There are also various flavours of Christianity to choose from.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the 13 parties that currently hold seats in parliament, in alphabetical order, and three hopefuls which, the polls suggest, are in with a chance in the March general election.
50PLUS
Seats in parliament: 3 Campaign slogan: No
Founded in 2009 as a pensioners’ rights party – despite being named for the over-50s – 50PLUS has been bedeviled by splits and rivalries, and former leader Henk Krol is now standing for parliament under his own name. The party wants the retirement age brought back to 65. Manifesto