De Jonge, Minister of Housing in the current cabinet, decided to make himself available for a debate with the House of Representatives on Thursday. Last week he still rejected that and the CDA member still calls it ‘unusual under constitutional law’ that he has to account for something that happened in a previous reign in a different portfolio, but now he chooses to do it himself. to explain ‘about the questions that have arisen’.
The news that De Jonge has used his private e-mail for business communication played an important role in this change of course, although this conflicts with the advice in the handbook for ministers. Members of parliament fear that information about the mouth mask deal may have been lost as a result.
It is not clear whether Deloitte, which has been investigating the Sywert deal for months, has De Jonge’s private email. During a technical briefing in the House of Representatives, the researchers refused to provide any clarification. The Deloitte representatives only wanted to talk about the study design and not give any further details. Previously, the cabinet also refused to provide a statement of facts about De Jonge’s role in the transaction with Van Lienden, although the majority of the House requested this. According to the cabinet, the investigation by Deloitte must be awaited.
De Jonge is not thinking about resigning
The opposition is certainly annoyed at the lack of cooperation. The hope is now that De Jonge himself wants to provide full clarification as to why he always denied having any involvement with the Sywert deal, while whatsapp traffic shows that he himself urged a top official to contact Van Lienden.
De Jonge is counting on being able to continue as minister after the debate on Thursday, he told journalists on Tuesday, despite the doubts that are growing in the House of Representatives about his reliability. According to the CDA minister, the fact that he made frequent use of his private e-mail until this week, against all advice, is only a side issue, according to those around him.
De Jonge acknowledged that it was ‘unwise’ that he ignored warnings about the use of his unsecured account. According to the CDA member, this only happened because his government email is not user-friendly. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport said on Monday to De Volkskrant that it cannot be excluded that information, which falls under the Open Government Act (Wob), has been lost through the use of private e-mail. De Jonge called this ‘far-fetched’ on Tuesday. “It has nothing to do with the Wob at all.”