Jozias van Aartsen is named acting Amsterdam mayor
The Hague’s former mayor Jozias van Artsen has been appointed acting mayor of Amsterdam following the death of Eberhard van der Laan last month.
Van Artsen will take up the post on 4 December and will remain acting mayor until a new one is appointed after the local elections in March.
A member of the Liberal VVD party, Van Aartsen had been mayor of The Hague since 2008 but stepped down early in March 2017 to give his successor enough time to become familiar with the job before the March local elections.
Prior to that, Van Artsen was foreign affairs minister and an MP.
As yet there are no clear indications who might be after the mayoral role on a permanent basis. Alexander Pechtold, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, had been tipped for the job, but said he is not interested.
Femke Halsema, a former MP and leader of GroenLinks, has also been mentioned as a possible contender.
Commissaris van de Koning Johan Remkes maakte zojuist bekend dat Jozias van Aartsen met ingang van 4 dec onze waarnemend burgemeester is. pic.twitter.com/cmuDE9J889
— Gemeente Amsterdam (@AmsterdamNL) November 2, 2017
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