Omtzigt sees little in campaign as a ‘game show’ with major TV debates: ‘Prefer in-depth conversation’ | Politics

Major debates in which party leaders are given a few minutes to make their point, press red or green buttons and have to show their colors at lightning speed ‘do not lead to solutions’, says Omtzigt on Wednesday afternoon during the annual Binnenhof lecture in the Nieuwspoort press center in The Hague.

“So let’s see how in-depth debates and conversations with two or three people about public housing, about social security, about migration, about climate policy make the real choices clear. That seems to me a lot better than the campaign as a game show.” A ‘long series of debates’ in which many party leaders speak in one-liners’ does not lead to clarity, says Omtzigt. “If we look at who has the sharpest one-liner, we will not solve problems.” Whether Omtzigt will actually ignore such major party leader debates in the future is still unknown.

In the coming weeks it should become clear with which candidates and which election program NSC will enter the campaign. In his book, the basic principles of the party and during lectures, Omtzigt has already emphasized themes such as poverty, fundamental rights, privacy, social security, the tax and pension system.

Also listen to our podcast Politics Close. You can find all our podcasts at ad.nl/podcasts

He also insists that the House of Representatives can perform its monitoring role better. Parliament must still quickly work on the parliamentary inquiry into the corona crisis and the House of Representatives must deal with the budget and tax laws much more thoroughly next fall.

“The government wants to deal with twelve tax laws this year, an absolute record. That also means that many parties will talk for less than one minute about injustices that have been done to 250,000 people, because in the same debate they also have to talk about 11 other bills, including the tax plan.”

Omtzigt is more ‘optimistic’ than before about politics and the chances for a stronger parliament. “Especially at a time when a lot is shifting, with new political leaders, there are great opportunities for a new House of Representatives to resume its role before the MPs come under the yoke of the coalition. I find the current political climate very refreshing.”

Omtzigt is currently being polled as the largest party, although the NSC party leader does not want to look too much at the polls: “Polls go up and down faster than anything else (…) we ignore them.”

Criticism of Omtzigt from former politicians such as Henk Kamp and Alexander Pechtold that he takes ‘no responsibility’ as a Member of Parliament, Omtzigt refutes during the lecture, incidentally without mentioning the names of critics: ,,Who says that a Member of Parliament bears no responsibility, has not understood the essence. Membership in parliament is not junior position on the way to the cabinet or a mayoral post.”

Watch all our videos about politics here