Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius hopes her party will be the biggest in the upcoming Dutch elections
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security, hailing from a Kurdish-Turkish background and serving as the leader of the liberal-conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) party, anticipates that the forthcoming elections will determine her potential role as the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
“We are having elections and I hope that my party will be the biggest,” she told Kurdistan 24’s Barzan Hassan. “And then maybe (I will become the next) Prime Minister, but first (we will hold) elections.”
In mid-August, Yeşilgöz-Zegerius took over leadership of the VVD party, succeeding the outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who stepped down in July after the government fell apart over its asylum policy.
The Netherlands is set to hold early general elections on Nov. 22, 2023 to choose the representatives for the House of Representatives.
Read More: Outgoing Dutch PM Rutte hopes Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius wins future elections
Earlier, the departing Dutch PM Rutte told Kurdistan 24 that he naturally hopes Yeşilgöz-Zegerius will become the next PM, "but that's up to the voters."
Yeşilgöz-Zegerius also paid a visit to Erbil and Baghdad in May 2022, during which she met with top leaders with the aim to end impunity for Dutch fighters through judicial cooperation with the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities.
Read More: Netherlands eyes judicial cooperation with Kurdistan Region on ISIS crimes: Justice Minister
She also met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and discussed the importance of continuing support for the Kurdistan Region to confront ISIS and provide assistance to victims of the group's crimes.
Read More: PM Barzani and Dutch Minister of Justice discuss strengthening judicial cooperation
She recently told WNL's program WNL Op Zondag that her goal is to revisit Iraq, where she intends to engage in discussions regarding the prosecution of ISIS fighters within Iraq. Most likely, she will also visit Erbil.
Her focus will be on understanding Iraq's requirements for conducting these trials, ultimately working to prevent impunity.