Democrats 66 leadership election, 2006

Democrats 66 leadership election, 2006
Netherlands
24 June 2006 (2006-06-24)

 
Candidate Alexander Pechtold Lousewies van der Laan Hein Westerouen van Meeteren
Party D66 D66 D66
Popular vote 2009 1752 221
Percentage 52.6% 45.8% 4.7%


Leader before election

Boris Dittrich

Leader-elect

Alexander Pechtold

The 2006 Democrats 66 leadership election was called to elect the new Leader of the Democrats 66 after incumbent Boris Dittrich announced his retirement from national politics. Dittrich who had been the leader of the party since the resignation of Thom de Graaf on 22 January 2003 did not stand for the leadership election. Alexander Pechtold the Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations beat the Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives Lousewies van der Laan and business consultant Hein Westerouen van Meeteren.

Background

The lijsttrekker election has been advanced to an earlier date under pressure of the party's largest regional sections. Boris Dittrich, parliamentary leader of D66 until February 2006, stepped down. He came under heavy criticism after the political debate on sending Dutch troops to Uruzgan. He was criticized for making tactical errors to get political support for the mission, which D66 itself opposed. He was succeeded by Van der Laan. Advancing the date of the lijsttrekker election would allow D66 more time to find its ideological course before the next national election.

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.

The other candidates are:

Procedure

A congress will be held in The Hague on June 24, 2006. Eligible D66 members can vote for a candidate in two ways, either they fill in the mail-in ballot they receive on June 8 before June 23, or they make their choice clear on the day of the congress. Only D66 members who have paid their membership dues before May 29, 2006 can vote.

Results

Five counting rounds were necessary to elect the lijsttrekker. Alexander Pechtold was voted the new lijsttrekker. In the final round he received 2.009 of the 3.823 votes, 52.6% of the total in the sixth count of the election.[1] Runner-up was Lousewies van der Laan, obtaining 1.752 votes, 45.8% of the total. 62 votes were declared invalid. In the first round Pechtold obtained 1.860 out of 3.905 votes (47.6%), Lousewies van der Laan 1.662 votes (42.6%) and Hein van Meeteren 182 votes (4.7%).[2]

Results

Name Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6
Lousewies van der Laan 1662 1663 1664 1673 1692 1752
Alexander Pechtold 1860 1862 1865 1877 1895 2009
Hein Westerouen van Meeteren 189 189 190 199 221 eliminated
Carlo Strijk 64 64 68 75 eliminated
Simone Kuiter 44 47 50 eliminated
Jan Zelle 14 16 eliminated
Ricardo Gomila Vergara 10 eliminated
André van Wanrooij withdrew
Blank 62 62 62 62 62 62
Total votes cast 3905 3903 3899 3886 3870 3823

References

  1. Result at the D66 web site
  2. Complete result at the D66 web site

External links

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