“Caroline van der Plas wanted to know, just like everyone else, who was ultimately responsible for closing the deal,” says political journalist Leendert Beekman. ‘Who pushed the button? We know from the report how things went, but who exerted political pressure remains unanswered. The House wants to know.”
Puppet show
Minister Helder, however, did not indicate why Van der Plas wanted to summon Hugo de Jonge to the Chamber. Which was rejected after a vote. Van der Plas then called the course of events a “puppet show” and left the Chamber. His colleague Azarkan spoke of “falsification of history” and also stated that he will no longer participate. The PVV and Van Haga also took off. To the sore leg of the VVD deputy Tielen, who said he felt insulted: ‘If things don’t go as they want they will go away, I feel insulted’.
Who then?
But all in all, it is not yet known who gave the final blow to the deal. What produced the debate? ‘We know VWS knew it would work with a company that would make a profit. Subsequently, forty million masks were brought to the Netherlands that did not work properly. Minister Helder feels cheated and will try to recover the money and the damage suffered.
Helder wants to take legal action, but as long as the criminal investigation is still ongoing, it will not be taken. Once that happens, however, the Dutch state wants the money back. The problem is that VWS knew a profit would be made, so you can guess how likely that is.