The new leader of the left-wing green party GroenLinks is looking for a far-reaching alliance with both Labour (PvdA) and the D66 Liberals, she told tv show Nieuwsuur on Sunday evening.

Jolande Sap is taking over from Femke Halsema as parliamentary party leader. Halsema resigned on Friday saying her ‘time has come’.
Sap believes by working with the other parties, the ‘social progressive voice’ can be heard better and offer an alternative to the current right-wing cabinet.

Senate
In particular, Sap hopes to hold on to a left-of-centre majority in the senate. At the moment, the ruling alliance of VVD, CDA and silent partner PVV does not have a majority in the upper house.
GroenLinks and Labour have already agreed to link their candidate list for the March provincial council elections. The two parties will also publish a number of joint manifesto pledges shortly.
Labour chairwoman Lilianne Ploumen confirmed the plans to the Volkskrant. ‘We hope as many opposition parties as possible will join us,’ Ploumen told the paper. ‘The differences between the Socialist Party, Labour, D66 and GroenLinks have always been fewer than the similarities.’
Powerful opposition
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said he did not agree with the idea of joint manifesto commitments but did support the focus on developing ‘powerful opposition’ in the senate.
‘We have to limit the PVV’s blackmail vantage point, so we can limit the ridiculous plans for nature and culture,’ he said.
The results of the provincial elections are used to determine the make-up of the 75-seat senate. The anti-Islam PVV is not currently represented but is planning to field candidates in all 12 provincial races.