It would not be a begging tour, said Minister Sigrid Kaag about the cabinet tour of the opposition parties to find support for a spring memorandum that will not be voted down in the Senate. And for that you need the opposition. Either on the left (PvdA and GroenLinks), or on the right (JA21, affiliated with the Nanninga Group, which occupies seven seats in the Senate). The choice is up to the cabinet and that is exactly what PvdA and GroenLinks do not want.
To the disappointment of GL leader Jesse Klaver and PvdA leader Attje Kuiken, the cabinet did not come to beg, not to consult, but only to listen. The two opposition leaders thought they could negotiate, hoped to conclude a deal with the cabinet. Klaver in particular was deeply disappointed. “They only came to get information,” he complained about Rutte and Kaag’s visit. That was exactly the intent, that’s how it was announced. We don’t want to negotiate in backrooms, do we? That is the old management culture that everyone – including Klaver – wants to get rid of.
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If you’re in the cabinet, it’s your job to come up with proposals that can count on the support of a majority of parliament. That is precisely the assignment that the House of Representatives gives to an informer who has to investigate the formation of a cabinet. ‘Support of a majority’, that was not so easy after the last elections. The majority eventually came in the House of Representatives, not in the First.
And so Rutte gets to work to get part of the opposition on his side. He doesn’t mind that: he has chopped with this ax before. At the time, for example, he convinced Jolande Sap (GL) to participate in the training mission in Afghanistan, which brought her into serious trouble and the party into free fall. And Kees van der Staaij (SGP) was ‘updated’ in the back seat of Rutte’s official car – according to the prime minister, there was no negotiation – about the Catshuis consultation where decisions had to be made about extra cutbacks.
That’s not all that special. It is part of the work of a cabinet that cannot boast of a majority in both Houses. Rutte is nevertheless in a fairly luxurious position: he can choose between left and right. So the cabinet will not negotiate, but will make an inventory of the wishes of the opposition. Then to see who can best get support from.
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The cabinet is short of money, about ten to fifteen billion, as a result of the war in Ukraine, the screeching inflation and the ever-rising energy costs. The plans with which Rutte-4 enthusiastically started his job at the beginning of this year and which are only a few months old, must be adjusted. And it is politically undesirable to let the citizens pay for this. No party can sell that to its voters.
The opposition’s wish lists are diverse, but not unexpected. PvdA and GroenLinks want to reduce income inequality and raise the minimum wage. There is a good chance that the cabinet will go along with this, now that Rutte has already said that companies and the rich will have to pay more tax. JA21’s desires seem less promising. The party wants to break open the asylum policy and scrap the extra climate spending. Both are a bridge too far for at least two coalition parties, D66 and ChristenUnie.
The pretend disappointment of Klaver and Kuiken, after the meeting with Rutte and Kaag, was on the stage. Anyone who remains reasonably reasonable in their demands will see the cabinet heading its way.
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