Jolande Sap has resigned as leader of the left-wing green party GroenLinks after losing the support of the party’s board.



‘I see no alternative other than to stand down as party leader and parliamentarian’, Sap said in a statement. ‘I am doing this with pain in my heart’.

GroenLinks’ support slumped in the September general election. The party now has just four seats in parliament, less than half its previous representation.

The party was hurt by its support for the Dutch police training mission in Afghanistan, the spring budget agreement and internal divisions over the leadership.

Sap took over the leadership job from Femke Halsema in December 2010.

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