Rutte does not give up, with the support of his VVD

The VVD election campaign revolved around one premise: in order to get through the corona crisis, the Netherlands had to opt for the continuity of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Now that almost all parties have excluded Rutte from cooperation in a new cabinet three weeks after the elections, something else can be heard in the party: Rutte is not going anywhere. And this while his presence seems to be an obstacle to the formation of a stable coalition.

In the days after almost all potential coalition partners had stated that they did not want to cooperate with Rutte in the upcoming formation negotiations, his party rallied behind him. This is evident from background discussions with national and local party members. And it appears from some public statements of support from (former) party leaders such as Henk Kamp, Annemarie Jorritsma and Fred Teeven.

The party digs in, realizing that other parties can now speak out against him as prime minister, but that those same parties ultimately cannot bypass the 34 VVD seats that have been conquered to form a coalition. For the time being, there is no one within the party who openly doubts his leadership. Despite the blows that Rutte has received in the debate about the failed reconnaissance and the lack of confidence in other parties.

The VVD has not lost the elections, has it? “You do,” it sounds, “not with a leader who has once again made his party the greatest.”

Marathondebat

It seems that Rutte has recovered quickly from Thursday’s grueling marathon debate. On Friday afternoon he looked tired and lifeless when he found some media in the Binnenhof. Yes, he was still “immensely motivated” to continue as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, he said. But he didn’t look very happy about it. A day later when he spoke to journalists again, it was the other way around. He said that the message ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers and the harsh accusations from the debate had certainly affected him – “That doesn’t leave me unmoved” – but he looked, in a casual outfit, fitter and more energetic. He said he felt “militant.”

Not only prominent figures and Rutte confidants speak out. There is also great support for him among the members, according to a tour. Falco Hoekstra, leader of the VVD party in Heerhugowaard, says: “The country has actually improved on everything over the past ten years. Thanks to Rutte. He is the only one who could rule with almost all parties. ” Groningen member David Jan Meijer: „I have been walking for days with the feeling that the Hague games are a threat to the stability of the Netherlands. CDA and D66 have strengthened their negotiating position, congratulations, but now the country must be governed again. Only Rutte can do that. ”

The reasoning of VVD members is that the almost two million votes that Rutte recently received cannot be ignored. That was after the Toeslagen affair, which voters blamed Rutte less than was thought and hoped by opponents. If the Netherlands would have finished with Rutte, it sounds in the party, that would have been clear in the elections. Hoekstra: „After all that has happened, one in five people voted VVD. Then other parties must also dare to close it. ”

Getting into the fight

VVD members therefore want Rutte to take up the fight. This politicizes the leadership of a prime minister who was successful in recent elections by adopting an apolitical attitude – stability in times of crisis with a prime minister who, after the economic crisis, the MH17 disaster and the Utrecht tram attack, could also lead the Netherlands through the corona crisis. At the same time, it could further deteriorate the already frozen mutual relations between party leaders: people with whom Rutte will want to form a coalition and who, if they do, can expect a storm from their supporters after their performances this week.

Roughly speaking, VVD members see two options, both of which ultimately lead to an inevitable continuation of Rutte’s premiership. The first is that if other parties think they can do it without him, then they just have to show it. This attitude can force D66 as the second party to take the lead for a formation attempt without the VVD. It would then have to consist of at least seven parties: a numerically and substantively almost impossible composition.

The VVD top thinks it is attractive, after the widely adopted motion of censure on Thursday night, to leave the initiative to D66 and other parties for a while. The difficult smoothing of the formation “may they go and do it themselves”, it sounds. “We wait patiently.” On Tuesday, the group chairmen in the House of Representatives will talk about this with Chamber chair Khadija Arib. It is the intention that an informateur will then be appointed.

Ultimately, it is expected, these other parties will not be able to ignore the 34 seats of the VVD and they will still end up with Rutte. Because, Rutte also said in front of the cameras this weekend: “The VVD is about its own personnel policy.”

‘Radical ideas’

Rutte himself pushed for the second option on Saturday, the ‘restoration of confidence’ that D66 leader Sigrid Kaag, among others, emphasized. He suddenly talked about ‘power and counterpower’, the terms commonly used by CDA member Pieter Omtzigt that were also discussed during the debate on Thursday. He and the VVD suddenly had ‘radical ideas’ about a ‘different administrative culture’, although it remained unclear exactly which one. The party did not mention this in the election program. During the greatest crisis of his leadership, Rutte thus falls back on the familiar attitude with which he has survived for ten years: moving with the rest. And also: don’t give up, see how the other parties react to it in the coming days, let time do its work.

VVD members know that the success of the party in the past ten years is largely due to the popularity of Rutte. Within the party it has been heard for years that after Rutte’s departure, one day, the party will almost inevitably fall – perhaps comparable to that of the CDA after the departure of Jan Peter Balkenende in 2010. There is no obvious successor within the fraction. .

The strong support for Rutte within the VVD, despite the consequences that this may have for the cabinet formation, is an echo of what Klaas Dijkhoff last autumn in NRC said about his party. The then party leader of the VVD described a defensive party. One day, he said, “a party member gets into trouble. Then your first reflex is: is there a line of defense? ” The VVD would then reason too much out of its own interest. “We are in love with the club, but that does not count for society. If you do not see this, you will run out of the party and you will end up being blamed in elections. ”

Also read: With or without Rutte, that is the question

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