Highlights from the Runners-Up Debate: Lahlah and Van Vroonhoven Take Center Stage

Esmah Lahlah (left), the number two of GroenLinks/PvdA and Nicolien van Vroonhoven, the number two of New Social Contract, are preparing for the WNL debate on Sunday morning in Amsterdam.Image ANP

It is the kind of debate that Pieter Omtzigt prefers to stay away from, Sunday morning at WNL on NPO 1. There are seven participants, each with their own position, which they always debate in groups of four, and there are red and green lights to indicate disapproval or approval. show. It takes a total of 45 minutes.

Apparently Omtzigt’s number two on the New Social Contract (NSC) list, Nicolien van Vroonhoven, saw no objection to this formula. Because she is one of the participants in what WNL traditionally calls the runners-up debate, a nice way to see some other faces than just the party leaders.

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Remco Meijer is a political reporter for de Volkskrant and writes about justice and the royal family.

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This results in the familiar presence of politicians such as Mona Keijzer (number two of the CDA in 2012 and 2017, now of BBB), Fleur Agema (who proudly mentions that she is the running mate of PVV party leader Geert Wilders for the sixth time). and faction leaders Sophie Hermans (VVD) and Jan Paternotte (D66).

New faces

Attention is mainly focused on the lesser-known faces in second place: former CDA MP Van Vroonhoven; Eline Vedder of the vintage CDA, Member of Parliament since May, announced by presenter Rick Nieman as ‘farmer from Drenthe’; and on behalf of GroenLinks-PvdA, Tilburg councilor Esmah Lahlah. How do they pull it off?

While it was mainly VVD (Dilan Yesilgöz) and PVV (Geert Wilders) that clashed in Friday’s Radio 1 debate, here the fierce exchanges of words between Lahlah and Hermans are striking. The VVD has included the statement ‘The housing shortage requires migration restrictions’. Lahlah thinks that is far too simplistic, especially if Hermans also argues that status holders are given priority in housing allocation.

“You pit groups against each other,” says Lahlah. ‘We have left housing to the market, a celebration for all pawnbrokers. It is high time to take back control, as far as we are concerned, with a housing fund.’

Van Vroonhoven adds that it was the VVD that was in charge over the past twelve years. ‘Perhaps the solution lies in new management.’

‘Pretty shameless’

A clash also follows with Lahlah’s position. In the Security block, GL-PvdA states: ‘The police have been neglected for years.’ Hermans: ‘I think it is quite shameless of GL-PvdA to say this. We actually invest in the police.’ Hermans does admit that cuts were made in 2012, ‘but we have learned from that’.

Lahlah defends her position with: ‘We have failed the police, and with it our society.’ Here Vedder sees an opportunity to make a CDA point. ‘The police capacity in the region is below par. That seems to be a kind of no man’s land.’

The participants after the runners-up debate. In the middle is Sophie Hermans of the VVD, with Jan Paternotte (D66) and Esmah Lahlah (far right, GroenLinks-PvdA) next to her.Image ANP

Conscription

There is some confusion about Vedder’s own statement. Under the Defense block she has submitted ‘Conscription makes the Netherlands stronger and more social’, but what is meant is social service. ‘You can also fulfill this obligation at a healthcare institution.’

Keijzer draws on her memory when she says that this was also in Rutte III’s coalition agreement, but on behalf of the BBB she believes that a non-mandatory ‘service year’ is better. Lahlah (‘one size does not fit all does not suit us’) and NSC are also against. Van Vroonhoven: ‘I am surprised by that obligation, I don’t think it is appropriate for the CDA.’

Economy broken

NSC itself has introduced a much-discussed program point as a statement: ‘The migration balance back to 50 thousand.’ For Van Vroonhoven, this mainly means curbing study and labor migration. Paternotte makes short work of it. ‘You are destroying the economy with this idea.’ Van Vroonhoven thinks it would be a good idea to look at ‘everything that happens in those distribution boxes’.

Lahlah also believes that labor migration is ‘the biggest button we can turn’, because people fleeing war will have to be accommodated. She warns that mentioning numbers or guidelines “creates unrealistic expectations.”

Van Vroonhoven responds strongly with: ‘I think it’s too easy not to mention a number, because then you can keep saying whatever you want.’

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2023-11-05 12:54:28
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