Both Bergkamp and Arib were deeply embarrassed on Wednesday by the leak of the Presidency’s intention to start an investigation into transgressive behavior in the workplace by Arib during her years as chairman (2016-2021).
Complaints about this came in at the beginning of the summer, after which Bergkamp submitted the case to the State Attorney for legal advice. He said that further investigation was required. The Presidency unanimously decided in a closed meeting on Wednesday to begin that investigation and then attempted to schedule a meeting with Arib for Thursday morning. Even before that contact was made, the case leaked out via NRC, after which the case went into an unstoppable acceleration.
Arib reacted furiously to the investigation anyway, but the fact that she had to learn about it through the media hurt her extra. On Saturday evening she decided to leave the House of Representatives.
Reports of leaks are not uncommon in The Hague. The chance that the subsequent investigations will lead to something, however, is extremely small. In most cases, there are so many possible suspects that it is not possible to pinpoint the leak. Media by definition do not cooperate, because they protect their sources at all costs. The case is usually dismissed after a period of time.
In this case, at least the members of the Presidency were aware. These are, in addition to Bergkamp himself, MPs Ockje Tellegen (VVD, temporarily absent due to illness), Martin Bosma (PVV), Michiel van Nispen (SP), Anne Kuik (CDA), Tom van der Lee (GroenLinks), Frank Wassenberg ( PvdD), Salima Belhai (D66) and Aribs party colleague Henk Nijboer of the PvdA.
Bergkamp did not respond substantively to the Arib case on Sunday. She will do that on Monday. Earlier this weekend, a group of prominent MPs demanded a text and explanation before 1 p.m. on Monday. They believe that the whole course of events is extremely damaging to the image of the House of Representatives.