Five politicians have a chance to win the Thorbecke Prize for political eloquence this year. The Thorbecke Association, the organizer of the prize, announced this on Tuesday. Henri Bontenbal (CDA), Rob Jetten (D66), Sylvana Simons (Bij1), outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) and Caroline van der Plas (BBB) are all in the race to become the most “debatable and rhetorically gifted national politician” of the year to be chosen.
Last year Pieter Omtzigt won the prize. At the time, he was still an independent Member of Parliament on behalf of the Omtzigt Group, and his newly established New Social Contract party won twenty parliamentary seats in the recent House of Representatives elections. The jury praised his “authority as a speaker”, which became “definitely indestructible” since “others tried to banish him from the Chamber”.
This year again, the jury, led by Thorbecke biographer Remieg Aerts, will assess the candidates on rhetoric, presentation and debate style. Who Omtzigt must pass on his challenge trophy to will be announced on December 14 in the Nieuwspoort press center in The Hague. Then Kees van der Staaij, who served in the House of Representatives on behalf of the SGP for 25 years, will also give the Thorbecke lecture on ‘polarization in politics’.