AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgoz will lead outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party in elections this November, the party announced on Monday.
Yesilgoz, 46, is the first woman to lead the VVD party in national elections and if successful, would be the first female Dutch PM.
She has Kurdish roots and immigrated to the Netherlands from Turkey when she was 8 years old.
Rutte, the longest-serving Dutch prime minister, said in July he would leave politics following the collapse of his government over asylum policy. He will continue to serve in a caretaker role until a new cabinet is installed.
The Dutch will go to the polls on Nov. 22 – the first election since 2006 in which Rutte won’t be leading VVD.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
