19 Nov 2023 at 05:12
VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz must get rid of Mark Rutte’s thirteen years of premiership, but does not want to throw his legacy in the trash. She also speaks about her origins for the first time in this campaign. “I had to apply for a job for a long time even though I had really good papers.”
Is the legacy of thirteen years of Mark Rutte a burden or a support?
“Both. I refuse to throw things that have been achieved in the trash. As if it has become a terrible country. That is not the case. Of course you have to learn from the things that have gone wrong.”
Rutte then talked about scratches on his face. Are those scratches also on the VVD?
“Every party that has taken responsibility for so long is involved in many things. Look, for example, at the consequences of gas extraction in Groningen. That has not only been going on for a few years.”
“There have been people at various times who, looking back, should have made different decisions. The VVD is also part of that. Things go wrong that also affect us. Unfortunately, that is part of it. It is easier to shout on the sidelines.”
The campaign is a lot about purchasing power. In your plans it will hardly increase extra.
“If you look at the whole picture, people are improving by 1.4 percent.”
The calculations state 0.4 percent.
“If you look at the existing measures and what we add to them, the total is 1.4 percent. We have taken over the existing poverty package.
“But it must also be about middle incomes. That we take measures in a way so that we do not tax this country to pieces.”
I will then apply three times harder and do three times more to ensure that I do get a table.
It has been about middle incomes for a long time. That is just not reflected in your election manifesto.
“We have to fight for our plans to get the rest involved and really do something for that group. In recent years, people in poverty have rightly been chosen. But now it must also be about middle incomes. We have had to fight hard to get the to achieve a reduction in excise duties. Middle incomes will also benefit from this.”
The VVD program talks about some neighborhoods and villages being “flooded with migrant workers”. Wilders once spoke of a “tsunami of Islamization”. Has the PVV become milder or the VVD more radical?
“You have to ask Wilders about the PVV.”
You’re also observing him, aren’t you?
“Yes, I do. Let me start with myself. We see a big problem. Too many people are coming to this country and that number has to be reduced. If you say that, then you have to show how. We show that, so I think not radical to us.”
“We currently do not look at who needs us with asylum seekers and we do not look at who we need with migrant workers. We have no control over it. That is why we make sharp choices that we can also implement. I would call us realistic.”
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It’s also in the rhetoric. Wilders was denounced when he talked about a tsunami. Flooding is not the same, but that rhetoric seems similar, right?
“For us, and I keep it to myself, we look at what is going on in the country. In Ter Apel, people do not speak of immigrants from hatred or aversion, but they say that their village cannot handle the numbers. And I agree with them. I want to do justice to those people and I also want to do justice to the real refugees.”
“When I came here as an eight-year-old girl with my parents, 38 years ago now, we were welcomed as refugees very quickly. We got a house, my parents immediately learned the language and were integrated. I wish that for everyone.”
“But if you don’t have control, people will stay in asylum centers for a long time and then go to a container home. It takes forever before they become part of society. We can ask more of them. Such as learning the language.”
NU.nl has delved into the election programmes. Read here what parties want with:
When you joined this week Today Inside was a bit of a joke about your last name. Johan Derksen said he cannot pronounce ‘Yesilgöz’. What do you think of that?
“I hear that more often. With Johan we have now taken the first step that he pronounces my first name correctly. He now says ‘Dielan’ as he should instead of ‘Dilan’. And he can say ‘Zegerius’. Now the middle .”
“I think people should learn that. That’s part of it. There are a lot of people in the Netherlands with supposedly complicated names. It’s not that complicated, because if you do your best, you can just pronounce it.”
“Yes, but then you tell him how to do it and then you practice. For years, Mark Rutte shuffled just about every consonant he could think of. Then, for example, I would call him after a debate and we would practice again. Now he can do it perfectly.”
“People don’t necessarily mean that in a mean way. I’m not going to be very sour about it either. But for me it’s important that you get used to it. It’s not just about my name. It’s about all the names in the Netherlands that belong to the Netherlands. , but don’t sound Dutch. In my case ‘Yesilgöz’ means ‘green eye’.”
Have you ever been approached about your Turkish appearance?
“I don’t think so outwardly. The fact that I was not born here has happened a few times… I have not consciously been bothered by that in my entire life.”
“I had to apply for a job for a very long time even though I had really good papers. If you look at my last name and my place of birth… We know that that kind of discrimination unfortunately occurs.”
“I will then apply three times harder and do three times more to ensure that I do get a seat so that this does not happen again. This is how I deal with it.”
How are you going to ensure that this does not happen again?
“I am now in a position, not even as a party leader but especially as a minister, that I pay a lot of attention to this. Not all applicants come to my table as a minister. But everyone must be given a fair chance.”
“I have had discussions about this at the ministries over the years. Then someone was too young or still had a lot to learn. Then I said: if they had said that to me, I would never have had those opportunities.”
You’re in a place now where you can say something about it, but you’re not talking about it in the campaign.
“That’s right. But I would rather change the system than pretend that this is a country where you don’t get any opportunities. Look where I am now. So it is possible! I prefer to radiate that.”
You also change it by making it a topic of discussion, don’t you?
“I am also happy to answer these questions and place them on the agenda where I feel necessary.”
“The problems we currently have are mainly about making ends meet and finding a home. That does not mean that people do not experience discrimination. Look at anti-Semitism. The number of reports has increased by 818 percent. These are certainly topics that come up. “
“You have to show it. That is really a VVD attitude, that is why I feel so at home. We are not talking about quotas and women. But I am the only potential prime minister candidate. We just do it.”
Of course, showing can be said about anything. You always mention migration and social security.
“I don’t run away from it either. I also think it’s nice that you ask those questions. They were not in the TV debates.”
“This is also a country where you sometimes have to work harder. But if you do, you will get every opportunity. That balance is also part of it.”
“Discrimination and racism is never okay. I will never accept it. Unfortunately, it does exist. You just shouldn’t let yourself be pushed aside and think about it from the side. You have to keep fighting so that you can get to that table.” sit down and change the system from within.”
Mark Rutte often talked about fighting.
“I lived that. That’s what I do.”
Left-wing parties exist by the grace that they have to save victims.
This also implies that you have to fight a battle that you did not choose.
“More people have that. As a woman, as an immigrant. You should never accept it. But there are many ways to deal with it. I will always continue.”
Have you ever had the feeling that people are against you?
“Yes. Then I am talking about politicians from DENK. Together with other MPs with a Turkish background, I was attacked by them, because we did not behave according to our color. That is apparently how they saw it.”
“I also got the feeling from left-wing parties such as SP, PvdA and GroenLinks that I am different because I was not born here. I was really put in a box there as a victim and then rescued from it again. Then you had to emancipate. “
Do you still see that with those left-wing parties?
“Certainly. The left-wing parties exist by the grace that they have to save victims. Like: ‘Come on. I am already enlightened and educated. Now you just have to do it.’ I think that’s terrible.”
“I haven’t forgotten Wilders’ tweet either. I confronted him about it and we talked it out. It hasn’t happened since.”
By pointing to those parties you make it very political. But what bothered you the most when applying for a job?
“I cannot prove that about those applications. It is a feeling. With those left-wing parties I saw it happen right in front of my nose.”
“My message to people is to keep going. Because if you sit at the table, and it really doesn’t have to be a ministerial table, then you can also make a difference. This country offers an incredible amount of opportunities. An incredible amount of freedom to do what you want to do. I cherish that.”
NU.nl will speak to various party leaders in the run-up to November 22.
Read the interview with NSC party leader Pieter Omtzigt. Read the interview with JA21 party leader Joost Eerdmans. Read the interview with PvdD party leader Esther Ouwehand. Read the interview with SP party leader Lilian Marijnissen. Read the interview with Volt party leader Laurens Dassen. Read the interview with D66 party leader Rob Jetten. Read the interview with CDA party leader Henri Bontenbal. Read the interview with PVV party leader Geert Wilders. Read the interview with BBB party leader Caroline van der Plas
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2023-11-19 04:12:21
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