There is further dissatisfaction in the cabinet team about the failing testing policy of Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health). There is also strong opposition to the possibility of taking new measures, while the figures show a decreasing number of infections.
Measures such as introducing a curfew, closing schools or closing the retail trade in regions where things are not (yet) going well, are met with opposition from a large number of ministers. “The government will not survive the introduction of a curfew or closing schools,” said one directly involved.
Resistance
In the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Rutte has so far worked together with Deputy Prime Minister De Jonge (Public Health) and Minister Van Ark (Medical Care). They advocate extra measures until this week. On the other hand, ministers Hoekstra, Wiebes and the D66 ministers, who found heavier intervention unnecessary.
Insiders point out that ministers such as Grapperhaus (Justice) and Bijleveld (Defense) last week opposed proposals to intervene even harder in the Council of Ministers.
Displeasure
The dissatisfaction among a large number of ministers is partly due to the fact that decisions were taken without substantiation. “No one could explain what the closure of libraries means to reduce the spread of the virus, the R factor. So why are we doing it?” Says an insider.
The mutual tension erupted last Sunday during the Catshuis meeting between the most involved ministers. Because, according to one involved, those consultations ended in ‘fierce quarrels’, it was decided not to meet last Sunday. “It got out of hand in the cabinet.”
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Angry mood
Ministers’ meetings last Monday and Tuesday also took place in a tense atmosphere. “Those were very lively conversations, heated discussions. Nothing was known and yet they decided to close libraries, museums, cinemas and theaters. That is no longer possible,” said an initiate.
Sources in The Hague confirm a report in the AD that Prime Minister Rutte in an angry mood called opposing ministers ‘disloyal to the cabinet’. He then took back his words and apologized, but the incident does illustrate the tense atmosphere in the Rutte III cabinet.
Tinkers
Last Friday, Rutte tried to speed up the pace in the Council of Ministers and not dwell on corona for too long. Still, he could not prevent a number of ministers from indicating that they ‘really objected to something like a curfew’.
“If you keep tinkering with the measures you have established, you also go adrift yourself. That’s what happens,” says one directly involved. “Make the decision to allow a maximum of 30 people at a funeral. We don’t know what that contributes to the R number, but we do it anyway, because we have to do something.”
Inconsistent
“If you then notice that the R-number is already below 1, you get the answer: ‘Yes, but not enough’. And if you then ask where do you want to go, it remains quiet. “
But another insider says: “The enthusiasm with which part of the cabinet is looking at declining figures is too optimistic. More is needed in some regions.” Another, however, wonders what could be done: “There is little support for a curfew, Grapperhaus is not keen on that either. Schools closed, other ministers are not interested. Then you will close retail trade and the mayors do not want that. “
For months there has been criticism of the testing policy in the House of Representatives and the cabinet. Various ministers and group chairmen have expressed negative internally about this policy.
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shame
Last week, the first XL test street set up by industry and the Ministry of Defense. “Far too little has been done about this since the summer by the Ministry of Health and Minister De Jonge. A minister such as Wiebes (Economic Affairs) is very critical about this and has been working with employers’ club VNO-NCW to rectify this for weeks”, one person concerned says.
According to some, the Ministry of Health even tried to the last minute to stop the establishment of the test streets by the business community and Defense. “And when there was no other option, they agreed. It is a shame.”
However, this is contradicted by another initiate. The ministry would not have put any blockages on the test streets. Testing is one of the most important ways to really get rid of the corona virus.
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Failing test policy
Prime Minister Rutte is also said to have been internally critical of the failing testing policy. “You notice that he is increasingly critical of the mismanagement in the field of testing, because testing solves the corona problem”, says a coalition source who points out that the prime minister is nevertheless still working with De Jonge.
“Rutte’s strategy is that he can never be blamed for being too flexible.” Another points out that Rutte sometimes even wants to be stricter than De Jonge.
In the coalition, it is said that the VVD is afraid that if De Jonge stumbles and has to resign, Rutte will suddenly own the corona problem. “So their strategy is to keep De Jonge afloat at all costs and we’ll see again after the elections.”
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Sources, insiders and insiders
RTL Nieuws has used anonymous sources for this article. These sources only want to talk on condition of anonymity, because they cannot make overt statements due to their position. Statements from sources are always checked and checked with others. Their names and positions are known to the political editorial staff and the editor-in-chief of RTL Nieuws.
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