“If people wonder in a few years: ‘Who was that again, Carola Schouten?’, that’s completely fine with me.” Outgoing minister and deputy Prime Minister Carola Schouten (46) longs for a life of anonymity after almost thirteen years of politics in The Hague, six of which as a minister. This summer, after the fall of the Rutte IV cabinet, she decided to quit. She talks about her years in politics in the TV program ‘KRAAK asks on’ on Wednesday.
Carola Schouten’s cradle was in Waardhuizen, a small village in the Land of Heusden and Altena. Her parents had a dairy farm. “I am a Calvinist,” she says, “a Protestant Brabander from the clay soil. Dutiful. Where you sit, no matter where, you have to do what you can. I have always tried to do that.”
After studying in Rotterdam, she joined the Christian Union and in 2011 she entered the House of Representatives. Her political career is all about negotiation. She was one of the founders of the Rutte III and IV cabinets. She was successively Minister of Agriculture and, to this day, outgoing Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions.
The Rutte IV cabinet fell in early July over migration, something Schouten is still disappointed about. “Then again: long nights of negotiations. Tired and disappointed, she spoke to the press when the failure occurred. Now she says: “I don’t think the fall of the cabinet was necessary, but we did not want to have it on our conscience that parents those fleeing cannot be reunited with their children.”
No matter how long she sat ringside in the arena in The Hague, she still doesn’t feel like a politician. “I’m not into games, but I have learned to keep an eye on what’s happening around me.” That also took a toll on her personal life. “You’re always on. I start the day by looking through six newspapers to see if we need to comment on anything or make a decision.”
Carola Schouten is not the type who enjoys all the attention that political business brings. She has tried to remain modest about it. “It’s not about me, we’re all just passers-by. I’ve tried to mean something to other people just like teachers and nurses do.”
No one knows how long the formation of a new cabinet will take, so Carola Schouten does not know how long she will have to remain in her post as outgoing minister. “I’m just going to keep going full speed until the end,” she says determinedly. No time to think about what comes next, she says, “but at least it will be something out of the spotlight.”
‘KRAAK asks for more’ is broadcast every Wednesday at 5.15 pm and then repeated. The program can also be viewed online and via Brabant+. There is now also the podcast, with a long version of the conversation.