Just about yesterday's debate
I was sitting last night with my cheek pressed against the TV, meanwhile chatting with this and that about what we all thought of it and covering our mouths in astonishment. Just a recap of yesterday's debate in highlights.
1. First of all: Mark. Why?
The day before yesterday, Mark said as a great, mature leader: ‘I propose that the notes from my conversation be made public, and that the other conversation reports be scanned by the chairman of the House regarding Pieter Omtzigt.’ At that moment, I thought: that’s my Mark: polite, objective, and above all parties. The wise school principal, I might say. Then I read that he had talked about a ministerial position for Pieter Omtzigt. I thought that was smart and wise, because Pieter Omtzigt is an incredibly political animal that you’d rather have in your camp than outside it. But then the shuffling began. Because Mark said he hadn’t talked about Omtzigt, and then he did, but he had forgotten. I agree with Peter R. de Vries who said yesterday on Beau: ‘If you say you can’t remember a conversation from a week and a half ago, you are not being honest and not suitable as prime minister. And if you genuinely don’t remember, then you might forget things more often. I just wonder why Rutte didn’t simply say that there was indeed talk about Omtzigt and that he even considered a ministerial position for him in the new cabinet. Then nothing would have been wrong. And now it smells and reeks.
2. Kajsa Ollongren
To sit there and know that all the misery was caused by you, because you hastily gathered your papers and rushed to your driver. A moment of carelessness and everything, everything collapses. For you, for Pieter Omtzigt, and especially for Mark Rutte. Because not only was the fact that you were there with those documents in view bad, but especially what was written. ‘Pieter Omtzigt: position elsewhere’. Pieter Omtzigt, the man with more than 250,000 preference votes. The man who (with Renske Leijten) brought the benefits scandal to light, the man who pointed to the Leiden Halix factory that makes the coronavirus vaccine but where the government did not invest, causing production to go to the Brits. Anyway, anyway, anyway. When will the day come, dear Kajsa, that you no longer think back to this affair?
And a small suggestion: maybe you can wear a different dress today. And different boots. I can now draw them out and don’t find them entirely appropriate for the situation. I would go for something more modest. Just a tip.
3. Sigrid Kaag
I looked at Kaag and thought only: what is she thinking? Does she regret becoming the leader of D66? She had already expressed her doubts about the political snake pit in The Hague beforehand, but she couldn’t have foreseen it being this bad. But how she holds herself together. Polite, smart, articulate, and with a straight back. I didn’t vote for her, but I love Kaag. A little more every day.
4. Caroline van der Plas, Farmer-Citizen Movement
Yesterday was also the day that all new members of parliament could give their maiden speech. What is normally a pleasant day with flowers and applause, was now immediately a baptism of fire with a capital F. Some moved a bit awkwardly, others (Sylvana) visibly let the moment sink in (because it’s special) and Caroline van der Plas got straight to the point. She said she didn’t know if it was appropriate and that she was new and more of that, but that she had always learned one thing from her parents and would never forget it. ‘What you do not want done to you, do not do to others.’ There she stood, and I immediately found her an asset to the political field. I hope that Mark, Kajsa, and Annemarie Jorritsma were not checking their phones at that moment and were listening. But really listening.
