Column | Will it be red green?

If there is a merger between GroenLinks and PvdA, what should that party be called? I hear little about that – and yet it is not an unimportant issue. Suppose they choose a wrong name with which they can be ridiculous-then the merger irorie is quickly over.

Some examples of poor naming are easily thought out. Take ‘Solidary together’. Of those words, only the first letter will remain in the eyes of fierce opponents – with all the consequences that that entails.

‘Left Vooruit’ or only ‘Vooruit’ is also not recommended because in the event of an election defeat you can expect the recurring question whether the name cannot be adjusted better now. In Belgium, by the way, there is a social -democratic party called ‘Vooruit’, but, sorry Belgium, not everything that happens there deserves to be followed.

In addition, the action plan with which GroenLinks and PvdA started in 2024 was already called ‘Together Vooruit’. Not crazy for an action plan, but too skinny for a political party that would rather not resemble a walking club.

But what then?

We don’t have to expect the answer from Ad Melkert, Gerdi Verbeet, Rob Oudkerk and Hans Spekman. They want the PvdA to stay the PvdA, but perhaps their merits for that party are not unforgettable enough to listen to them much longer.

The more I worry about it, the harder it gets. That applies to many problems, but in politics it can be disastrous if you are not even able to come up with a good name with your good intentions. Something with ‘freedom’ or ‘democracy’ perhaps in it? No, in fact: no! These are hijacked in Dutch politics by wrong politicians and thereby contaminated concepts.

The merger party of GroenLinks and PvdA should focus primarily on the middle class, I often read lately. Should it not be the Middle Class Party instead of the Labor Party? Again: no! The other classes will feel neglected in advance. Then ‘the party of the middle’? Well, how colorless.

Then I sought a name with the handy words’ agreement ‘or’ ‘alliance’ in it. Left agreement, left -wing alliance? Unfortunately. The Left agreement already existed between 1986 and 1990 as a partnership of the left -wing parties CPN, PSP, PPR and EVP in Amsterdam, a precursor of GroenLinks, founded in 1990. An old name at a new party? Not ideal.

Left alliance? Not bad, but not very original. Finland has a left party with that name that is also part of the government. It is a real possibility, but especially when nobody gets a better raid at GroenLinks and the PvdA.

Left block or on the left just then? Thanks to the Vlaams Blok? Rather not.

We come to the most obvious choice: red green. It is an indication that is used in different countries for cooperation between socio -economic and ecological parties. Red as a symbolic color for existence, green for the environment. ‘Roodgroen’ was already called the initiative of members of the PvdA and GroenLinks who called their parties into a merger in 2021.

I have not yet heard a more suitable alternative, but maybe there are readers with a better idea.

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