There is only one party leader who does not dare to watch the infamous Nieuwsuur election specials this year. The NPO-hating Geert Wilders and Thierry Baudet are going. Who is absent?
The Nieuwsuur specials in the run-up to the elections are notorious. Very infamous. Arjen Lubach even made a song about it: “Don’t go to Nieuwsuur! Mariëlle Tweebeeke… No, right?! It will cost you ten seats! Don’t go to Nieuwsuur! Nieuwsuur, where you always get scared of the host because you’re being roasted. Don’t go to Nieuwsuur!”
Lion’s den
Three years ago, two party leaders canceled at the very last minute: Farid Azarkan and Geert Wilders. “Geert doesn’t dare go there. Maybe he’ll get ripped off. Hey, two passports is scary, but not as scary as Tweebeeke!”, Lubach joked. And: “Say you drove the wrong way or just died, but don’t go to Nieuwsuur!”
Wilders has now agreed again. Whether he keeps the promise remains to be seen, but the agreement is in any case: “On Tuesday evening, November 14, I will venture into the lion’s den and I will be a guest on Nieuwsuur. M curious! 🫢”
Which of the two?
It is no secret that Wilders prefers not to appear in NPO programs because he finds them too left-wing. The media-critical Thierry Baudet will also join us, on November 2.
Nieuwsuur anchors Mariëlle Tweebeeke and Jeroen Wollaars will alternately question the party leaders. It is not yet clear who will be put on whom, but three years ago he was certainly very jealous when she was allowed to do Wilders and Baudet. “But that division was made based on our schedule.”
Fourteen games
Fourteen political parties have definitively agreed to participate in the interviews with the party leaders. Five smaller parties as part of the regular broadcast, the nine largest parties in theme broadcasts in the Nieuwsuur election studio.
The only absentee is the SGP. Kees van der Staaij has retired after 25 years in the House of Representatives and the new party leader is Chris Stoffer. Apparently he doesn’t dare to do such a tough interview with Nieuwsuur yet. “The SGP was also invited based on the criteria, but that party declined to participate,” the editorial said.
Scheme
The schedule of the Nieuwsuur theme broadcasts:
Fragment
Lubach’s song: