For a moment, just for a moment, Pieter Omtzigt showed the back of his tongue, but it was long enough to know what his plans for a new government are. In a conversation organized by the University of Twente and the newspaper Tubantiahe said: “A center-right cabinet is certainly a possibility. This includes: a subsection of VVD, NSC, BBB, CDA, SGP, JA21.”
Shocked by the reactions, he later tried to put his words into perspective on X: “I was asked which center-right coalitions are possible based on a possible outcome: I mentioned one. But there are several possibilities of coalitions.”
The fact that Omtzigt must have been thinking about his preference for much longer is evident from his well-considered summary, in which PVV and FVD are missing. They are apparently a moral bridge too far for him, although seen in that light it is remarkable that he does want to do business with a political fortune seeker like Joost Eerdmans of JA21.
Omtzigt will regret that, against his political nature, he allowed himself to be viewed in such a way. Timmermans has been very friendly and complimentary to Omtzigt so far in this election campaign, it was as if he wanted to create a favorable climate for impending coalition talks. It initially led to an interesting dialogue on YouTube with more emphasis on the similarities than the differences. Timmermans also remained rather tame towards Omtzigt in Sunday’s RTL debate, as if he still harbored the illusion that cooperation was obvious.
Omtzigt still smells of its old CDA nest, where cooperation with the left was always avoided for as long as possible. Now that Omtzigt has more or less accidentally provided more clarity, there is no reason for Timmermans to spare him any longer. What does he have to lose? If GroenLinks-PvdA does not win the elections, a role in the opposition remains. Even if that party does win, it will be difficult to persuade Omtzigt to cooperate. “The Dutch voter is becoming more right-wing,” the Twente interviewer told Omtzigt. He agreed.
I am surprised that Omtzigt’s rivals have focused so little on his Achilles heel: the prime minister issue. Isn’t it bizarre that he doesn’t want to say who the mysterious Mr./Ms.
Timmermans has not said anything about it yet, VVD party leader Dilan Yesilgöz only recently said: “I think if you keep silent for so long about such a difficult office, then you don’t want it.” Omtzigt himself says that he still has doubts. That could be a strategy: he then says a week before the elections that he does want to become prime minister and thus gets even more votes.
But I suspect that Omtzigt is indeed hesitant because he realizes that the job of prime minister with all kinds of representative obligations (hug with Macron, kiss from Meloni) does not suit him at all. He wants ‘substance’, not fluff. That is to his credit, but makes him unsuitable as prime minister.
Accepting an incredibly busy job with great reluctance – isn’t that asking for another burnout? If I were his doctor, I would say to him: “You should think about that again, Mr. Omtzigt.”