The PvdA’s much hyped €2 bargain membership to allow ‘anyone’ to have a vote in the party’s forthcoming leadership election is not a real deal, the Telegraaf reported on Monday.

In order to check that people don’t vote multiple times, voters will have to join the PvdA for a full year, and that will cost them €24, the paper said. People wanting to take part in the leadership vote can either pay their membership in one go, or 12 installments of €2.

Leadership candidate Jacques Monasch, who had been hoping to pick up a lot of votes from new members, says the €2 deal has all the appearance of a sales trick.

He has asked party leader Hans Spekman for an explanation.

‘People are going to feel conned by this,’ Monasch told website Nu.nl. ‘An open leadership contest would have given the PvdA fresh momentum.’