Pieter Omtzigt is quitting, what are the future scenarios?

Pieter Omtzigt is temporarily stepping down as NSC leader. There were major concerns about his well-being within the governing party NSC. Omtzigt is struggling under high work pressure. Supporters said on Wednesday morning, September 11, that ‘we have to protect him from himself’.

In a contact with EW Omtzigt initially denied that he was considering temporarily stepping down. A few hours after the EW-publication appeared, Omtzigt announced that he was ‘temporarily taking a step back’ and that deputy parliamentary group leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven would replace him.

The NSC leader was absent from The Hague the last few days of last week, although he did give an interview on Friday evening Cafe Kockelmann, the talk show of WNL. Last Tuesday, September 10, he was also absent from the NSC faction meeting and the Chamber meetings. Several NSC members say that they had only sporadic contact with Omtzigt in the past week and a half. Everyone knows him as ‘an incorrigible workaholic’.

Shortly after this message appeared, Omtzigt posted the following message on X:

In the coming weeks I will take a step back. The past year has been exceptionally intense and that means that, for health reasons, I will be working more in the background and less in the spotlight for a while. Nicolien van Vroonhoven, our deputy chairwoman, will…

— Pieter Omtzigt (@PieterOmtzigt) September 11, 2024

Sources at the top of the party were worried about the leader of NSC. They felt that they had to protect Omtzigt from himself by prescribing him some rest. They did not rule out that Omtzigt would eventually step down as party leader and political leader. ‘The most important thing now is Pieter himself. We want him to be happy again,’ according to one of Omtzigt’s confidants.

Omtzigt has had a difficult time

Every politician threatens to throw in the towel at some point. Omtzigt is known for slamming doors regularly. ‘But the last week and a half has been different,’ says a well-informed source. Omtzigt is completely broken.

According to his supporters, Omtzigt has had a difficult period. ‘He has felt very misunderstood in recent weeks,’ says an NSC member. He hardly had time to recover from a turbulent political year in the summer, because he put a lot of work into EWHJ Schoo’s lecture on Monday, September 2.

In that lecture, the annual opening of the political season, he launched widely debated views on population growth and low birth rates. “Last week was just a bad week for him,” a source in NSC summarized the situation.

In addition, the other coalition factions criticized Omtzigt’s behavior in the final phase of the budget discussions in the cabinet. Via The Telegraph and other media reported that Omtzigt had behaved in a politically immature manner, burst into tears and unnecessarily frustrated the negotiations by repeatedly walking away or withdrawing into his own circle for long periods of time.

‘Pieter is overtired, takes all the criticism very seriously and feels misunderstood,’ says a reliable source in NSC.

In the morning: ‘Nothing wrong.’ But in the afternoon: ‘Take a step back.’

The NSC ministerial council – a weekly meeting behind closed doors of ministers and party leaders – was supposed to consider the issue on Thursday 12 September. Some participants actually felt it was irresponsible to let Omtzigt continue as party leader. An NSC member said he expected that a decision on Omtzigt’s future would be made public after that. Omtzigt did not wait for that and announced his temporary resignation in a message on social media.

Omtzigt swore on Wednesday morning that nothing was wrong: ‘I’m just working from home.’ In previous conversations, he sometimes spontaneously announced that he would quit. Party members in his immediate environment said that he urgently needed to take a rest. It is not yet known how long Omtzigt will take a rest. In his message, he speaks of ‘the coming weeks’. Moreover, he is not withdrawing completely. He wants to work ‘in the background and less in the spotlight’ in the coming period.

A successor was already being sought within the NSC faction

Organizational psychologist Kilian Wawoe – one of Omtzigt’s loyalists – was working on a plan to appoint a temporary successor to Omtzigt within the NSC faction, according to party sources. The matter was under time pressure, because next week is Budget Day. The day after, the General Political Considerations will begin, normally the most important parliamentary debate of the year.

Party members said they thought it was unwise for Omtzigt to do that debate. But who would? There was no question of a leadership battle. It was much more about compassion for Omtzigt and the question of what is best for the party in the long term.

Nicolien van Vroonhoven is a former CDA member of parliament and is an experienced debater. But she has to get to work right away in the parliamentary debate with, among others, PVV leader Geert Wilders and opposition leader Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA).

Kilian Wawoe – member of the party board, chairman of the committee that selected the NSC parliamentary candidates and a personal friend of Omtzigt – did not want to comment on Wednesday morning.

The party circuit was already buzzing yesterday with the names of deputy faction leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven, financial spokesperson Tjebbe van Oostenbruggen and traffic spokesperson Olger van Dijk as possible replacements. They all have a past with the CDA.

It was not an option to bring one of the cabinet members back to the faction, sources said.

Consequences for the Schoof cabinet if Pieter Omtzigt resigns

The temporary absence of Omtzigt affects the stability of the Schoof cabinet. Omtzigt founded the New Social Contract (NSC) in August last year. The party won twenty seats in the last elections and has four ministers and three state secretaries in the Schoof cabinet.

A change of leadership is accompanied by a training period and threatens to make NSC an unpredictable factor. NSC members also agree: ‘Pieter is the party and the party is Pieter.’ If he were to resign from leadership (temporarily), that would have consequences for the government coalition.

Striking in several speeches of Omtzigt recently: he kept coming back to ‘how far we have come in a short time’. Apparently he was not so reassured by nature about the smooth expansion of his young party.

If Pieter Omtzigt stops, a mainstay will disappear

The Schoof cabinet is dependent on the support of the twenty NSC seats in the Lower House. Through his role as one of the four negotiators in the cabinet formation, Omtzigt is also one of the pillars of the coalition. In the months of discussions, he learned to understand the sensitivities of the other government partners. As a result, he understands the Main Lines Agreement down to the small print.

Nicolien van Vroonhoven cannot rely on that knowledge and experience. She was involved in the cabinet negotiations as Omtzigt’s adjutant, but two other party members in particular assisted him: Eddy van Hijum in the area of ​​finance and social security and Caspar Veldkamp on the theme of asylum and migration, plus Ukraine. In the internal NSC consultation it was established that both would remain in the cabinet.

Omtzigt previously had a burnout

Omtzigt had to resign from his duties in 2021 for health reasons. In the run-up to the elections of March 2021 – Omtzigt was still a member of the CDA at the time – he reported sick. He was elected to the House of Representatives, but only came to The Hague to be installed. He only resumed his work months later. Omtzigt was replaced at the time by newcomer Henri Bontenbal, now CDA leader.

What role can Omtzigt fulfill?

Omtzigt said in a brief conversation with EW that he wants to continue as a member of parliament and not resign from his leadership. But others in the party mentioned as an option that Omtzigt takes a leave period and only then returns as party leader. A third possibility is that he occupies a seat in parliament again after a period of rest, but then as a ‘backbencher’. One of the other members of parliament then takes over the leadership permanently. Omtzigt would then coach NSC members of parliament from the background.

Many of the twenty NSC faction members lack political experience. ‘Pieter is good at coaching, but less good at instructing people,’ says a source. The party is not yet considering the possibility that Omtzigt will seek a position outside politics.

When Pieter Omtzigt stops, capable NSC employees are ready

For months, NSC has been concerned that Omtzigt is succumbing to the pressure of work. Just before the summer, NSC held an introductory day with party members in The Hague. On a Saturday, they were welcomed to the Lower House and were allowed to take their seats in the plenary hall for a light-hearted role-play with a number of sitting NSC MPs. The NSC members had to hold a debate on the question of whether the Netherlands should organize the Olympic Games. To make it seem real, NSC MPs also participated. MP Sandra Palmen acted as Speaker of the House, MP Aant Jelle Soepboer – education spokesperson with a big beard – enthusiastically portrayed an authentic faction leader of ‘Zuur Links’.

Everyone present had a great time, but according to NSC members it also showed how professionally the new generation of MPs behaved. They debated and used procedures like seasoned representatives of the people.

Pieter Omtzigt came to take a look that Saturday and nodded approvingly. A confidant: ‘Someone talked him into it then: you see, Pieter. We can do it. Don’t worry. You can also let it go.’

Omtzigt is devoted to the Council of Europe

Insiders know that Omtzigt attaches great importance to his work in the Council of Europe. He played a heroic role in exposing human rights violations in Malta and other European countries. According to insiders, Omtzigt would like to continue in the Council of Europe. But that is only possible if he remains a member of the House of Representatives. If he were to withdraw from parliament completely, he would also lose his seat in Strasbourg. And he does not want that, as can be heard within NSC.

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