Our reporter Valentijn Bartels is present at the debate. Follow his report at the bottom of this post
A lot is at stake for De Jonge today. How humble is he towards the Chamber? De Jonge repeatedly denied that he was involved in the mask deal with Van Lienden, while revealed apps show that it was De Jonge himself who put Van Lienden forward to officials who decided on the purchase of protective equipment at the beginning of the corona crisis. The debate about the face masks deal starts around 10.15 am.
De Jonge – who is now Minister for Housing – took flight on Wednesday. He still revealed a mountain of information, accompanied by a tiny mea culpa. With this he hopes to get through the debate today unscathed.
shock wave
The sudden transparency caused a shock wave through the House of Representatives. No party had counted on such a pile of documents after countless previous requests for more information about De Jonge’s involvement in the Sywert deal. The new documents show once again that De Jonge did interfere with the face mask deal and are a source of suspicion for the opposition parties. They wonder why there is now all of a sudden openness.
The CDA minister can expect critical questions from coalition parties VVD, CDA, D66 and CU, but on Wednesday it was already clear that the four would prefer to wait until a major Deloitte investigation into all deals on personal protective equipment has been completed. . The controversial Sywert deal – which involved around 100 million euros – is not the only major deal that the government has concluded. Only when a better picture is obtained, the final account can be drawn up. With this, De Jonge seems to have been thrown a lifeline from the coalition.