The CDA must listen better, is the message to the top management of the CDA. After all, according to Van Leeuwen, there is a lot of dissatisfaction in the country with the Hague policy. “That hard hit hurts a lot.” For now, it’s mostly about letting off steam, thinks Van Leeuwen, and the CDA still has no concrete action points. “How to proceed, which remained unclear last night.”
Take time
And they are trying to play for time. In the coming period, of course, negotiations within the coalition will also have to take place, for example on nitrogen targets. But it also concerns trust, the relationship with the citizen, with the electorate». According to Van Leeuwen, the CDA crisis runs much deeper than just the nitrogen problem. ‘Wopke Hoekstra needs time for this, so now he gets it from his own supporters. It will be very exciting for him.’
“This is exactly what annoys those VVD supporters, Rutte keeps making jokes”
There is also dissatisfaction within the VVD after the significant loss. About a hundred concerned party members wrote a letter to Mark Rutte, the party leader, party chairman Sofie Hermans and party chairman Wetzels. According to Van Leeuwen, the VVD faces the same problem as the CDA: declining trust in the party leadership, gap between the leadership and the voter. ‘People make the party, not the top, it’s the sound. Furthermore, it is not clear to the VVD whether the coalition agreement on nitrogen should now be dissolved”.
Rutte spoke at length with BBB leader Caroline van der Plas yesterday, but would not say anything about it and laughed off questions about it. According to Van Leeuwen, it is precisely the behavior that annoys the supporters of the VVD. “Rutte continues to make jokes, he talks about soup instead of a solution for this country, for which he has really been responsible for twelve years as prime minister”.
“I expect the situation to become simply untenable within the coalition”
Autumn wardrobe
Van der Plas wanted to say a few things. He namely that he hopes the cabinet will applaud. “I expect that the situation will simply become untenable within the coalition and that there will be new elections later this year.” Van der Plas is unhappy that the cabinet has not moved on the nitrogen dossier for two years, but can now suddenly do so.
parliamentary elections
According to Van der Plas, his party has been preparing for parliamentary elections for some time. She also says she is fully committed to the European elections. ‘We are already regularly in Brussels with other political groups to evaluate how to proceed. Everything is fine.’ He leaves it up to him whether Pieter Omtzigt is a candidate for prime minister, but says he thinks the independent member of parliament is “the best member of parliament” the Netherlands has had in recent years. “He is welcome to speak.” Van der Plas is not seen in the turret. “I just want to work here, in the Chamber.”
“Omtzigt is welcome to talk”
D66 is also licking its wounds and is more or less faced with a choice: commit itself to the nitrogen dossier or stick to the coalition agreement, as fewer and fewer parties want. D66 party chairman Jan Paternotte says he has received “no signal” that the coalition deal will be dissolved. ‘A week after the election we don’t suddenly find something very different from a week before the election. That nitrogen problem isn’t going away. We have to solve the problem together.’