ANP
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Nynke de Zoeten
political journalist
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Nynke de Zoeten
political journalist
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Johan Remkes will present his findings on tackling the nitrogen problem to the government next Wednesday. The same toilet that called him so often when an unsolvable problem seemed to arise.
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Nitrogen, training, resigning mayor: if you have an administrative problem call Johan Remkes (71). He knows all the conference halls in the Netherlands, but he is against political theater.
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“Someone who knows exactly how political chess goes, but who doesn’t play political games,” describes Jaap Smit, the king’s commissioner in South Holland. A few months after his retirement, Smit asks Remkes to become interim mayor of The Hague. “I was looking for someone who could bring peace and he did.”
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Remkes has been a deputy in Groningen since the early 1980s. Subsequently, he became a member of parliament, secretary of state, minister and commissioner of the queen in North Holland.
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news hour talk to people who are familiar with the “Remkes method”. A man of few words, a little authoritarian, a good listener who occasionally takes a tactical break. Almost everyone you talk to about Remkes comes up with these descriptions. But what makes him such a good crisis manager?
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ANP
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Johan Remkes as (temporary) governor of Limburg –
“I have never met anyone who could have such short telephone conversations on such important matters,” says Jasper Kuntzelaers, leader of the PvdA party in Limburg. All the deputies and the King’s Commissioner resigned there last year due to a subsidy scandal. Remkes flew by plane and for a while he is the sole administrator of the province. half day.
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Remkes has little time and little patience, as the group presidents note. “Go straight to his target of him. You jump on the train and look for a solution, or you don’t participate, but then you also stay on the sidelines,” says Kuntzelaers. “Although he could be blunt, he also took the emotion out of the process by breaking off negotiations and having separate conversations with people.”
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Remkes is also known for his efficient use of time in his previous positions, regardless of whether or not a smoke break has been enforced. The House committee, which will investigate ICT failures in government in 2014, also noted the following:
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Johan Remkes decides for himself when he starts smoking
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Remkes himself is putting together a new piece of advice and is also asking former MP Madeleine van Toorenburg (CDA). “If you are open, you get an open person in return. He withdraws if you want to do a political number, then smokes a cigarette. But if you have an argument, he takes you seriously and you also feel listened to if he disagrees with you. “
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He is not yet ready in Limburg when he starts working again in The Hague as well. The training has been closed for months. Remkes is also building up the pressure here. If the parties don’t want to move, he threatens to recommend new elections. “He was not afraid to fail, and therefore was not seen as a tactic,” says former minister Wouter Koolmees (P66).
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Sometimes he said something on purpose that went too far to refine things.
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This will partly lead to a restart of the Rutte III cabinet. Koolmees joins Remkes as an informant in substantive negotiations. “He is not a man of great strategies but he works in a more intuitive way”. The two had a natural division of roles: “I was more the speaker, and the good cop. Remkes listens very well, but when he concludes something, everyone listens.” “He Sometimes he said something on purpose that went too far, to put things on the edge”,
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The new cabinet soon called on Remkes to lead the discussion between the cabinet and farmers after the flames broke out after the nitrogen plans were presented.
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ANP
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Remkes listens carefully, “as long as you don’t say a political number” –
“We complain that politicians have too many nice words. This cannot be said of Remkes. But of course it is about his actions.” Jeroen van Maanen of the Union of Dutch Milk Producers is one of the farmers who initially did not want to sit down with Remkes, because he headed the committee that dealt with nitrogen policy.
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Eventually they move on. “We also know, of course, that we will not win away from home and that we have to talk. We had the condition that our points were on the agenda. In the end it only briefly turned out to be the case on the day itself, but Remkes said ‘I am the president, I decide ‘”.
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‘No need to make friends’
Even though Van Maanen and Remkes call each other the night before the meeting, Remkes doesn’t give a shit when Van Maanen introduces himself to him. “Very professional”. During the consultations between the cabinet and the farmers, things are immediately booming when Prime Minister Rutte stresses the vehemence of the protests. “A statement had to be made and we couldn’t understand it. Then Remkes said, ‘I’m going to do a press conference like this and then I’m going to word it like this, is everyone in agreement? Then we’ll continue.’ This was the salvation of the conversation. Rutte was calm and we could carry on. “
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Jaap Smit is also a provincial administrator in some of the talks and praises Remkes’ experience as president. “He still introduces himself as a moderator, but he also knows that something is expected of him.” Smit is counting on Remkes’ independence. “Besides, he doesn’t have to befriend the temporary jobs he does. This makes him completely autonomous.”
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