On Monday, the House of Representatives voted for an amendment submitted by the PVV on the Asylum Act, making the asylum policy a lot stricter. There was an unexpected majority for criminalizing illegality. It turned out to be ‘a misunderstanding’ on the left. There was wrong paired. Pairen was explained to us later on all talk tables, means that in the absence a member of parliament is looking for another Member of Parliament who votes in a contradiction and agrees that it is not present at the mood. This almost always goes well.
Nieuwsuur sought Christine Teunissen from the Party for the Animals, she had not succeeded in pairing. Christine was during the mood in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam. “At the commemoration of our terrible slavery past.” She laid the emphasis on the word ‘terrible’. Almost everyone finds our slavery history terrible, the adjective was in fact superfluous, but she liked to say so that we could hear that she is really on the right side of the line.
That was necessary because she also thought it was ‘terrible’ that, partly due to her absence in the vote, the amendment was assumed, but she refused to take responsibility for that. She just thought it was stupid that voting was at all. That was disrespectful to MPs like them themselves, who had taken the trouble to be at the commemoration of our terrible slavery past.
To the question of News hour Why she hadn’t paired, she replied that pairing is an incredibly complicated system. What it is not.
CT: I tried to pair.
Nieuwsuur: Why didn’t that work?
CT: You must ask other parties.
Nieuwsuur: Nobody wants to pair with you?
CT: I tried.
Nieuwsuur: with whom?
CT: I tried to pair.
Nieuwsuur: with whom?
CT: I tried.
Nieuwsuur: Why don’t you want to say with whom?
Because Christine Teunissen had not tried to pair at all, the interviewer knew that too. He had bite. Christine Teunissen hung on the hook, but continued to struggle. Christine Teunissen thought it was ridiculous that voting was at all on the day of Keti Koti. She was at the commemoration in Amsterdam, there should have been more MPs there.
Christine Teunissen therefore threatened to become illegality for a while. Threatened. Because yesterday Henri Bontenbal announced that the CDA will no longer support the new asylum law because of the adopted amendment on the criminal making illegality. You could say: thanks to Christine Teunissen. If she had done her best to pairen, the new stricter asylum law would have come. Is Christine Teunissen a challenged politician with that? I would have liked to have awarded the Party for the Animals, but you mainly watch the broadcast of Nieuwsuur. She can’t lie. And don’t pair.
Marcel van Roosmalen Writes a column on Monday and Thursday.