EU climate chief Frans Timmermans is set to lead the center-left bloc into Dutch general elections

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans is the only candidate to lead a merged campaign between two center-left parties in the Dutch general election in November

Netherlands Politics Timmermans (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans is the only candidate to lead a merged campaign between two left-leaning parties in the Dutch general election in November, the parties announced Friday.

Timmermans, a former Dutch foreign minister who is now the European Union's climate chief, is set to be confirmed as leader of the Labor Party and Green Left campaign Aug. 22 after a vote by members.

In a message Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, the parties lauded Timmermans as a leader “who gives direction to a green and social course” for the Netherlands. “Who knows how to bridge differences, who wants to restore confidence and who has a clear vision for the future of our country.”

Members of the two parties agreed last month to go into the Nov. 22 election with a shared manifesto and one list of candidates in an effort to unite the center-left vote in the splintered Dutch political landscape.

The last four ruling Dutch coalitions have been led by conservative leader Mark Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

Rutte and his last four-party coalition resigned in July after failing to reach agreement on a package of measures to rein in migration. Rutte, the Netherlands' longest-serving premier, has announced that he will leave politics once a new coalition is formed after the election.