‘Omtzigt and NSC are clever animals’

Table of Contents

• 1 ‘Omtzigt and NSC are clever animals’
• 2 Tipsy game
• 3 long term
• 4 A wake-up call
• 5 How might recent political upheavals impact ⁣the NSC party’s ability to attract new supporters and retain existing members in the upcoming elections?

The return of NSC director Pieter Omtzigt could not have come at a more tumultuous time. For days, politicians in The Hague have been talking about discrimination, racism and procedures within the coalition. Besides, his own party is in dire straits. The question is whether Omtzigt will be able to get back to work step by step. “Either you’re there 100 percent, or you’re not,” said political commentator Leendert Beekman.

Omtzigt has been home sick since mid-September with burning complaints. That happened to him before when he was still in the House of Representatives for the CDA. At the time, he wanted to get back to work too quickly, he now admits, and he doesn’t want to make that mistake again. That is why he is getting back to work ‘step by step’ and is sharing the leadership of the party for a while with Nicolien van Vroonhoven, who also replaced him a few months ago.

Tipsy game

This means that NSC currently has two captains on the ship. That is difficult, especially in the political Hague, Beekman thinks. “He is the leader of the party and he is also one of the ruling party in dire straits. I have my doubts about it.’

Omtzigt found another party when he returned. Last Friday, Secretary of State Nora Acahbar (Benefits) resigned because she could no longer deal with polarizing texts from her cabinet colleagues. Folkert Idsinga did that before, although he will return as a Member of Parliament. But two other members of the group, Rosanne Hertzberger and Femke Zeedijk, resigned from their parliamentary membership as well. They believe that standards of decency have indeed been exceeded. In that regard, the party, and perhaps also Omtzigt, is a ‘tipsy game,’ Beekman thinks.

long term

Nevertheless, Omtzigt said at his press conference that he is sure that his party can still achieve a lot, such as the establishment of a constitutional court and the restoration of the welfare system. These are long-term projects, and with the polls it is questionable whether Omtzigt’s intentions are real. ‘You can question this.’

New Social Contract will hold a party conference next week. The question is how the supporters of the NSC will deal with the situation within the coalition and the group.

A wake-up call

The latest disruption in the party, the departure of Secretary of State Acahbar and the two MPs, according to Member of Parliament Jesse Six Dijkstra, is a ‘wake-up call’ for his NSC party. The party must defend the rule of law ‘worse than it has been done so far’, said Six Dijkstra in Parliament today. His colleague Sandra Palmen also wants the agreements about the democratic rules of the game to be ‘enforced more strongly’.

Acahbar left because she could no longer live with the cabinet’s ‘polarizing manners’, group members Rosanne Hertzberger and Femke Zeedijk followed suit. According to them, things are ‘getting out of hand in the cabinet’ and the NSC has ‘proved that it is not capable enough to take normal action’.

Six Dijkstra says that the NSC should not be a ‘referee in the coalition’. The cabinet and the coalition together must guarantee the rule of law, as agreed upon in the formation of the cabinet. The question of what the NSC will do against the increasing polarization in society and in politics is still justified, says Six Dijkstra. The party must have ‘serious and sometimes more important discussions than we have done so far’.

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