The parliamentary debate about Hugo de Jonge’s involvement in the face mask deal with Sywert van Lienden has turned into a debate about the administrative culture in The Hague. Virtually the entire opposition sees the obscurity about the deal as proof of the ‘old’ governance culture. The coalition, especially CDA and D66, supports De Jonge.
In the first term of the debate, De Jonge listens for hours to biting questions from the opposition in ‘Vak K’. The reason is his involvement in the infamous face mask deal of 100 million euros with Sywert van Lienden. This debate concerns apps in which De Jonge, in his previous position as Minister of Health, asked officials to talk to Van Lienden: a (then) party member, but a difficult critic in the media. The Ministry of Health made the internal correspondence public on Wednesday.
Yes, says PvdA MP Attje Kuiken, the first speaker, this debate should clarify exactly what involvement De Jonge had in the deal, and why he only made incriminating apps public on Wednesday – despite wob requests from the media. But the case is ‘ugly for all of us” and ‘affects confidence in the cabinet and politics,’ says Kuiken. “How can we continue with this minister?” For example, the question of trust is on the table early in the debate.
‘Function elsewhere’ debate
Party after party sketches the obvious comparison with last year’s ‘function elsewhere’ debate about transparency and the new governance culture. How could De Jonge vehemently deny that he was not involved in the face mask deal ‘substantially’? “You can’t really blame this minister,” says Farid Azarkan of Denk. He thinks: “If Rutte can lie, I can too.”
MPs cannot understand that De Jonge has used his private email to communicate about the face mask deal – potentially causing sensitive information to be lost. Was it indeed because the government system is ‘user-unfriendly’, as De Jonge says, or was it on purpose? The current Deloitte investigation and the forthcoming parliamentary inquiry are ‘stained’ in advance, says Fleur Agema of the PVV. The SP comes up with a proposal to oblige ministers to always use the government system.
Coalition party CDA stands up for fellow party member De Jonge. MP Joba van den Berg – party colleague of De Jonge – irritates MPs of the opposition when she asks three general questions: about the quality of the mouth caps, the lessons from the affair and also De Jonge’s involvement. “His personal integrity is not in question,” she concludes.
Coalition supports De Jonge
“Am I here debating with a Member of Parliament, or with a government spokesman?”, responds Jesse Klaver of GroenLinks. Van den Berg is roasted for an hour with interruptions.
How the debate will end for Minister De Jonge will depend on the judgment of his three coalition partners VVD, D66 and the ChristenUnie. But it already seems clear that they will support him. Wybren van Haga, who split from FVD last year, announced a motion of no confidence in the morning. The ruling party VVD says today that it cannot draw definitive conclusions because of the ongoing Deloitte investigation. Denk wants De Jonge to apologize and admit that he informed the House ‘incorrectly, untimely and incompletely’. Azarkan: “Then there might be something to salvage.”
At 15:00 De Jonge and Helder respond.