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GroenLinks-PvdA MP Esmah Lahlah is quitting parliament to take up a post at the new city council in Amsterdam.
The 46-year-old has been appointed alderman for education, youth employment and youth care in the new administration, led by PRO Amsterdam, the fused left-wing party that succeeded the GL-PvdA alliance.
Lahlah held a similar position as an unaffiliated alderman in Tilburg before going into parliament with GroenLinks at the November 2023 election. In a post on Instagram, she said going back into local politics felt like an “obvious step”.
“The last few years in The Hague have been remarkable, intense and educative,” she said in a post on Instagram announcing her departure.
“I have put my heart and soul into economic security, equal opportunities and a society where nobody is left behind. And I am grateful to everyone I worked with.”
Lahlah was seen as a rising star when she was named as the number two candidate on the joint GroenLinks-PvdA list for the 2023 election, but she felt increasingly unsettled in The Hague.
Headscarf row
After ministers from the far-right PVV party made derogatory comments about MPs wearing Muslim headscarves, prime minister Dick Schoof was challenged by D66 leader Rob Jetten to look Lahlah in the eye and condemn his colleagues’ comments.
Schoof said: “I don’t care if you wear a headscarf. To me you’re a human being.” Lalah criticised the prime minister for not addressing the issue head-on, but also told Jetten she was angry at being dragged into the debate without being consulted.
After the fall of Schoof’s cabinet, Lahlah was revealed to have applied for the vacant positions of mayor and Tilburg and Delft while she standing as a candidate for GroenLinks-PvdA.
GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver said he was aware she had put herself forward for the role in Delft but expected her to remain an MP for the full four-year term. Lalah received 113,000 preference votes in the general election last October.
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