Response of DWARS and Young Socialists to opposition agreement

Joint reaction of DWARS and the Young Socialists to the opposition agreement of GroenLinks and the Labour Party

Yesterday, GroenLinks and the Labour Party presented a joint opposition agreement for the coming years. DWARS and the Young Socialists are positive about this, but remain critical.

First of all, we think it is hugely important to show that left-wing cooperation is possible. Left parties have more than once in the past been played apart, or ended up breaking up cooperation for selfish purposes. The cooperation between the Labour Party and GroenLinks has proved that it does not have to be that way.

In times like these, when social inequality is ever increasing, trust in government is ever decreasing and divisions in society are growing, it is more than once necessary for left-wing parties to show together that things can be done differently from right-wing distributive politics. A message of hope is needed, by setting common goals for the future. That is what is happening with this opposition agreement, and we welcome it.

DWARS and the Young Socialists do remain critical of the content. The targets set for the future could be sharper and more incisive. During the presentation, it was rightly mentioned that the current political climate is not committed to everyone, but to those who already have a lot of money. It is also time to put our finger on the problem: that is the climate of neoliberalism, and it is rotten to the core. Addressing that requires not only goals, but also the ideological thinking to which those goals belong.

This collaboration is therefore an important message to politicians and the public that things can be different. The depressing status quo of the right-wing coalition parties can only change with a clear, unified message from the left that offers hope for the future. DWARS and the Young Socialists urge GroenLinks and the PvdA to keep emphasising that this status quo can only be changed by continuing to think ideologically, and making a concrete commitment to systemic change.