Amid the many crises to which the cabinet has to find an answer – about purchasing power, about asylum reception, about energy, about nitrogen – CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra created a new political crisis: about the continued existence of the cabinet itself. His interview Friday morning in the AD, in which he throws overboard one of the pillars of the difficult nitrogen policy, has aroused great anger within the coalition. Especially with D66, which does not want to make any changes to the agreements laid down in the coalition agreement about the goal and timing of the nitrogen approach: halving emissions by 2030. And also at the VVD, which, together with Christianne van der Wal, has is responsible for the tough file. “It touches you when you commit yourself to a file and then read such an interview,” she said with visible restrained anger after the cabinet meeting. “Of course you hope for support from the team.”
“This is not small,” one person involved summarizes the tensions in the coalition. At the request of PVV leader Geert Wilders, the House of Representatives will return from recess next week for a debate with Prime Minister Rutte. The four coalition parties also agreed to this request.
In front of the cameras, the cabinet colleagues of Deputy Prime Minister Hoekstra tried to be light about the statements in the AD. Hoekstra argued for ‘a restart’ of the nitrogen process, whereby new agreements must be made ‘without dogmas’. The hard but controversial deadline of 2030 is no longer “sacred” for the CDA leader. Minister Van der Wal has been trying for weeks to explain why this tight time frame is necessary. “Nature can’t wait.”
Mona Keijzer
Prime Minister Rutte found Hoekstra’s public rejection of the coalition agreement difficult but “just possible under constitutional law”. A minister who is also a party leader, Rutte said in a flattering manner, has “more room to express himself party politics than colleagues in the cabinet who are not”. A year ago, CDA State Secretary Mona Keijzer was thrown out of the cabinet by Rutte because she had openly opposed Rutte III’s corona policy.
“Extremely remarkable”, D66 leader Sigrid Kaag called the interview of her fellow deputy prime minister Hoekstra, but she had formally “not read a request for the opening of the coalition agreement”. She said she would keep the CDA to the agreements made therein.
Behind the scenes, a major argument has broken out in the cabinet about the CDA leader’s carefully prepared attack on the coalition agreement. Shortly after the AD interview appeared, Hoekstra spread a via social media detailed explanation on top. On Thursday, he had already informed Prime Minister Rutte and Minister Van der Wal by telephone of his statements in the AD. The nitrogen minister would have reacted furiously, Rutte said later that evening in the Catshuis. The top of the coalition met there to discuss next year’s budget. The four party leaders from the House of Representatives were there and the three deputy prime ministers.
Hoekstra briefly explained his interview in the AD on this occasion. The D66 members, Kaag and party chairman Jan Paternotte, responded not amused and said to wait for the publication first. On Friday morning, after everyone had read the interview, the top of the coalition convened a conference call. The D66 members again reacted “very firmly”, according to one of the discussion partners.
The Council of Ministers followed on Friday afternoon. Without going into detail, many ministers clearly hinted that things were going on in the Trêveszaal. “A hearty conversation,” said Hoekstra himself. “Candidly,” said Rutte.
peasant grassroots
From a political point of view, Hoekstra’s action is not incomprehensible. In the polls, the CDA has been losing voters for months, mainly to the BBB. The farmers’ supporters, who traditionally voted for the CDA, are running away because of this cabinet’s nitrogen policy. With the Provincial Council elections approaching in March next year, Hoekstra must try to regain the sympathy of the countryside.
The party leader is also under pressure internally. Local CDA politicians find him too invisible. He does not allow the classic CDA sound to be heard enough within the cabinet. He is blamed for choosing the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and not sitting in the House of Representatives.
The incantation that the cabinet has chosen for now to prevent events from turning into a real government crisis is that all four parties emphasize in the nitrogen dossier to first wait for the Remkes trial. Hoekstra also says he is committed to it – “I have every confidence in that,” he said on Friday afternoon. VVD veteran Johan Remkes is currently leading a series of talks between the cabinet and organizations involved in the nitrogen task. He wants to come up with recommendations by the end of this month.
It is precisely Hoeksta’s timing that has caused great irritation among his government partners. If the CDA leader has difficulty with the nitrogen policy he has signed himself, he should have raised this internally and earlier in the cabinet. Not through the media while Remkes is still working on his mission. One of these days, Minister Van der Wal wants to hand in the homework assigned to her by Remkes, in a new attempt to get angry farmers back at the table. One of the outstanding questions is a better substantiation of the need to bring forward the intended nitrogen reduction from 2035 to 2030.
Under this tension, the cabinet will have to make major decisions next week about next year’s budget – Hoekstra already made an advance for that in the interview; he believes that at least 10 billion euros should be set aside for purchasing power repair.
The CDA leader has already told the rest of the ministerial team one thing. The traditional informal outing at the end of the summer recess – the first for this cabinet – has been cancelled. It was planned for next Tuesday, but according to Deputy Prime Minister Kaag, the inserted parliamentary debate will take place on that day – about the confusion that Hoekstra has caused.