The VVD, CDA and ChristenUnie factions say D66 MPs pay too little attention to ways in the coalition and too often go their own way. The astonishment and irritation are being felt mainly by the factions in the House of Representatives, not the cabinet team, those involved point out.
Tjeerd de Groot
The dissatisfaction concerns, for example, Tjeerd de Groot, the explicit agricultural spokesman of D66. “When Tjeerd de Groot tweets about fighting farmers, my inbox is full of threats. He should take that into account a bit more,” says a coalition source.
De Groot’s criticism of the plans of ChristenUnie’s Agriculture Minister Piet Adema is also wrong. In a radio interview, De Groot gave Minister Adema a “significant failure”. The letter on an agricultural deal with farmers called the D66 member “very disappointing”. There had been a “zero performance” and Adema was no better than his predecessor Henk Staghouwer, who resigned in September.
Personal criticism offends several coalition partners. De Groot was at the coalition meeting regarding the letter. “He talked about all those plans, and then the minister loses weight like that? So you have to be a boy and file a no-confidence motion,” said one person involved.
Comments Paternòtte
What also causes bad blood are the comments of D66 party chairman Jan Paternotte about the possible banning of political parties. Paternotte refers to the Forum for Democracy. Other factions of the coalition feel trapped by Paternotte’s proposal on this particularly sensitive issue. Indeed, wider concerns about threats to democracy had been shared in a consultation.
An insider: “And then Paternotte does a quickie on the media to pretend to be the only one concerned. ”.
Schiphol
More nonsense: the coalition had agreed on a motion for Schiphol to buy farms. A motion by left-wing parties wanted to halt the takeover immediately. But Schiphol hasn’t done anything illegal, thought the minister. The coalition parties had informed each other about how they would vote. CDA and CU in favor of the motion, VVD and D66 against. The motion would be denied. But D66 changed at the last minute. However, the motion passed. The coalition partners were taken completely by surprise. “D66 announces a minute early that it will also vote for it, so that the VVD is alone. This is not good,” says a senior coalition source.
D66 is unaware of any damage. The coalition is “a marriage of convenience,” the party says. The four parties don’t always have to agree on everything. In the coming weeks, D66 party chairman Paternotte will try to collaborate with other coalition party chairmen on content, says a D66 source.
Causes
There are various causes of mutual irritations. One of these is the abolition of the Monday morning meeting. Between 2017 and 2021, the prime minister, deputy prime ministers and party leaders met on Mondays to discuss all politically sensitive issues. A lot of frustrations and irritations have been expressed there, but that is no longer the case. The coalition had abolished the summit meeting in order to achieve greater transparency and an open administrative culture. But now it crackles more often between coalition factions.
D66 won the election and has been “in the mood to win” ever since, according to a high-level insider. This leads to “intrusiveness and toughness” in coalition talks. The D66 election slogan “let all go free, but none fall” has now been corrupted in the House of Representatives to “set free all who think like us”.
One reason often cited: D66’s major gains in the coalition deal. Sigrid Kaag accepted the coalition with ChristenUnie in protest, but introduced many substantive points into the coalition agreement. Exactly one year ago, Kaag put a nice D66 stamp on nitrogen, climate and Europe.
But the sentiment has changed in recent months: the political reality appears unruly. The nitrogen approach has stalled. Implementing climate policy is proving difficult. And Europe is moving towards a stricter migration policy.
D66 is often alone in coalition talks in The Hague, insiders note. It’s usually three against one. As a result, D66 members profile themselves more, which in turn causes irritation among others.
Not included
Analysis is recognized at D66, but irritation is not understood. Precisely because D66 wants the implementation of the coalition agreement – and certainly of the agreements that determine the face of D66 – the social-liberals are sailing on a safe course.
D66 party chairman Paternotte, in particular, is proud to spearhead the D66 plans. What the party has achieved in the formation must also be implemented, the top D66 underlines every time. “We do it well, or we don’t do it at all,” Sigrid Kaag repeated in her speech to the November congress.
According to interested parties from all parties, it is too early to talk about tensions within the coalition. But, one influential coalition source warns, “If small irritations aren’t stopped, it can lead to a big confrontation.”
