Copy the link of the articleEntrepreneur Eric Wetzels from Oosterhout became the new chairman of the VVD with ample support from party members from all parts of the country.He wants the discussion and debate back in the party.'VVD congresses sometimes felt too much like a slap machine.''People who know me a little bit know that I don't like to talk about myself', Eric Wetzels (63) introduces a short film about himself during the last election campaign for the party chairmanship of the VVD.This modesty typifies the Oosterhout entrepreneur, who became a member of the liberal party at the age of 16 and held various positions in it, but always remained in the background as a sort of oil man.He does not want to become a minister, mayor or alderman.He does not want to be in the House of Representatives or the city council.'I have no ambition to become a politician after this', he writes in his election pamphlet of one A4 page, entitled 'Why I want to be VVD chairman'.More than a week ago, Wetzels won the internal party elections gloriously.Not professional director Onno Hoes, nominated by the party board, but the opponent candidate 'from the members' will become the new chairman.De Brabander gathered no less than 68 percent of the votes.It was the first time since the VVD has organized presidential elections that the candidate of the party board did not win.Congratulations poured down from all over the country.The common denominator: finally a chairman for and by the members.Wetzels wants more discussion and debate in the governing party that has been in power with Prime Minister Mark Rutte for twelve years.'We need to get some color back on our cheeks', he thinks.'In recent years, the members' meetings were very stale and the congresses sometimes felt too much like a slapping machine.'He wants to 'get the party off autopilot and offer room for innovation'.Another challenging election promise: 'Our party needs a chairman who is mainly there for all members in the Netherlands and not just for politicians in The Hague.That requires a chairman who has no political ambitions himself and who is supported by the members from below.'Wetzels, born in Maastricht, is described as a real 'party tiger'.He was one of the founders of the South Limburg branch of the JOVD, the youth branch of the VVD.When he studied at the University of Twente, he became a board member of the local VVD branch in Enschede.He was chairman of the VVD in Oosterhout and also for five years (2007-2012) of the VVD Brabant.He was also a member of the party's 'permanent scouting committee', which scouts, among others, MPs and mayors.From 2017 to 2020, Wetzels was vice-chairman of the national VVD.He also served as acting chairman for six months, when the late Henry Keizer stepped down after being discredited by a financial scandal involving a funeral business.'A modest and unifying person', says the Oosterhout VVD alderman Dees Melsen about Wetzels.“He gives other people space and always thinks carefully before answering.In every association you need oil men who ensure that the organization runs smoothly.If he had wanted to go into politics himself, he could have done so long ago.But Eric prefers to let other people shine on stage.'In his own campaign film, the new VVD chairman calls himself 'a family man', proud father of three adult daughters.As a little boy he was already interested in the world around him and he read the newspaper, then still in broadsheet format, on his knees on the floor.When he was 9, his older brother died of asthma.Four years later, his father also died of cancer."So I learned very early on that sometimes life is short and it's important to be strong together," said Wetzels.He has always wanted to own his own business.But because of 'marriage, children and mortgage' that did not happen for years.Seventeen years ago, he finally took the plunge.He quit his job at a multinational in the chemical industry, handed in his lease car and settled for a much lower salary.Together with a partner, he became director-owner of Polyfluor Plastics, a plastics company in Breda that supplies, among other things, Teflon hoses for the medical industry and the car industry.According to Wetzels, this was a dream come true, which was roughly disrupted ten years later when he was diagnosed with metastatic esophageal cancer.His life expectancy was not good, but he survived thanks to 'two young doctors from the Amsterdam UMC'.Later he also got lung cancer.It all 'worked out well', according to Wetzels.He had only just left the hospital when the VVD elected Christianne van der Wal (now Minister for Nature and Nitrogen) as party chairman at the end of 2017."Eric is a liberal in heart and soul," says VVD mayor Hanne van Aart van Loon op Zand about the new party chairman.'He is a real entrepreneur, a real doer.Decisive, but not a screamer.He is curious about other opinions, even if they are critical.He wants to bring dialogue back into the party, and I am very much in favor of that.''As a liberal, I am responsible for myself.We are primarily responsible for our own lives, not God and not the state or the community.You should always look at yourself first.'(March 2022 for the ORTS, the Oosterhout radio & television foundation)'Too many VVD congresses were organized in such a way that critical motions were not adopted.I think that is a typical example of being sent by The Hague to keep the party calm.'(September 2022 in election pamphlet)'We have to tell The Hague what we think should be done – and not the other way around.That's why we joined a political party.'(September 2022 during campaign)In order to show you this content, we need your permission to place cookies.Open your cookie settings to choose which cookies you want to accept.For an optimal user experience of our site, select "Accept all".You can also only enable the social content: check "Accept cookies from social media" to do this.All stories in de Volkskrant 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