THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) 鈥 European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans said Thursday he wants to lead a combined campaign by two center-left parties that are joining forces ahead of Dutch parliamentary elections in late November.
Timmermans is a vice president of the EU's executive commission in charge of climate policy. He told Dutch national broadcaster NOS he has put himself forward as a candidate to lead the Labor Party and Green Left into the elections. The parties to form a united front on the left of the splintered Dutch political landscape.
Timmermans is a member of the Labor Party and a former foreign minister. He says he wants to be the next Dutch prime minister and aims to unite the increasingly polarized nation.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 time for us in the Netherlands to grow closer together again instead of growing apart. The fragmentation in politics must be countered," he said. 鈥淲e have enormous challenges 鈥 the climate crisis, nature is not in good shape. But also a war on the borders of Europe.鈥
His candidature quickly gained support.
Attje Kuiken, who leads the Labor Party's bloc in the lower house of parliament, tweeted that it was 鈥淔antastic news!鈥
Green Left leader Jesse Klaver said in a tweet: 鈥淲e have a unique chance at these elections to change the course of the Netherlands and usher in a new era. Frans Timmermans is absolutely the perfect premier to do it.鈥
Members of both parties will vote for their choice of leader next month. The results will be announced Aug. 22.
Timmermans said he also wants to eradicate inequalities in Dutch society.
"We can only solve all this if we work shoulder to shoulder and if we are less divided than we have been in recent years,鈥 he said.
No other candidates to lead the center-left bloc have yet come forward.
Early elections were called earlier this month when the Netherlands' longest-serving premier, Mark Rutte, and his four-party coalition after failing to hammer out an agreement on how to rein in migration.
Rutte, who led four coalition governments, announced after the resignation that he will after a new coalition is installed following the Nov. 22 elections. Negotiations to broker a new coalition could take months.
