NSC must show Geert Wilders in practice that he will comply with the rule of law

taketonews

In a small room of the Nieuwe Buitensociëteit in Zwolle, NSC MP Eddy van Hijum looks straight into a camera on Friday evening. More than fifteen hundred party members watch back from their screens. They have questions about the failed first formation round and about the position of NSC. Van Hijum, who has regularly sat at the formation table as co-negotiator of party leader Pieter Omtzigt in recent months, answers them. “I sincerely think it is a shame that the impression has arisen, and we can only blame ourselves for this, that we are avoiding our responsibility,” says Van Hijum. “That is out of the question.”

Further on in the building, 150 members can look Pieter Omtzigt straight in the eye when they ask him questions. They sit in a large room at round tables, most of the chairs are filled by elderly men. Members can ask their questions to (candidate) MPs and to party chairman Bert van Boggelen. Omtzigt moves from table to table. What is said cannot be heard by the press. Journalists must remain behind a red rope. There are security guards who ensure that they do not interfere with the members during the conversations.

Two thousand emails from members

The decision of NSC, earlier this month, to discontinue discussions with PVV, VVD and BBB in the last week of the formation round with informant Ronald Plasterk, has caused a lot of stir internally. The young party, founded in August last year, was immediately given a key position in the formation after the House of Representatives elections with twenty seats. Necessary for majorities, including those for the right-wing cabinet that was investigated under the leadership of informant Ronald Plasterk.

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<strong>Informant Kim Putters</strong> speaks to the press. “It is important to have a dialogue with all parties.” ” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/1xwAUEAxj7jB2HBM1mSZby3blFI=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data111686140-8f969b.jpg”/></p><p>“The hectic pace was immense,” NSC chairman Bert van Boggelen summarizes in recent weeks. The party, which now has more than ten thousand members, received two thousand emails last week. “About a thousand people were relieved and said they liked that NSC had left the discussions. And a thousand people said: what a shame, get to work, don’t be so difficult.” Three hundred and twenty-five members have now canceled their membership, Van Boggelen says that just as many new members have registered in the same period.</p><p>In the smaller room, Eddy van Hijum tells the members watching online that he thinks the party has “underestimated the length” of the formation process and the “impact on members”. When Omtzigt made it clear at the formation table on January 10 that his party would not participate in a majority cabinet, says Van Hijum, “something already arose in our minds: okay, we have clearly marked this. I think we underestimated the fact that it was not so clear to the outside world. He thought we were still negotiating about a regular cabinet.”</p><p>When asked by a member whether NSC had previously considered leaving the talks during the formation, Van Hijum answered negatively. “We have been very polite. Maybe we shouldn’t have done that.” He explains that NSC assumed that the others at the table would be happy to discuss the cabinet forms desired by his party at a later stage. “Whether that was a good, sensible assessment… it turned out that way.”</p><h2 class=Agreements on the rule of law

If anyone wants to know why NSC does not want to cooperate with the PVV “now that agreements have apparently been made about the rule of law”, Van Hijum says he is convinced that the PVV will also adhere to this. “That trust is there.” To then add that even after the agreements made at the formation table about guaranteeing the Constitution, fundamental rights and the democratic constitutional state, PVV leader Geert Wilders did not suddenly become “a different person” and the PVV ” not another party”. He believes that Wilders should “show in practice” that he is “actually intrinsically convinced” and that he will “comply with the rule of law.”

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<strong>Sit-in by officials</strong> in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 21, calling on the Dutch government to express support for a ceasefire in Gaza. ” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/qMdzuxOAxT1GToREzFjbRUaX7XM=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data111631037-722f48.jpg”/></p><p>For NSC, the message is that the PVV’s commitments are not enough. Participation in a majority cabinet with that party seems out of the question. In the main hall, Pieter Omtzigt says that NSC “does its utmost to make national governance possible.” The party would prefer to see a minority or extra-parliamentary cabinet. “What may seem strange or exotic at first glance can become a suitable solution to the current political impasse,” said Omtzigt. He calls such an alternative to a majority cabinet “not a must, but desirable.”</p><p>For the members present, it turns out afterwards that it is sufficient for the time being. “It had become messy for a while,” says Helmuth Welling (61). “But I am confident that things will turn out well. It is a learning party, we come from below.” And then repeat what Omtzigt also said earlier in the evening. What is needed now, he says, “is rest.”</p><p><dmt-util-bar article=


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