The first fireworks bang sounds when the political leaders are almost ready for the last theme of the NOS final debate: trust in politics. Before that, honking could be heard in the Province House of North Brabant, hundreds of tractors have been standing in front of the building from half past eight on Tuesday evening where the politicians from The Hague use their last chance to attract voters in Wednesday’s Provincial Council elections.
In the hall, which has been converted into a studio, Geert Wilders (PVV) says that trust in the government can still be restored “if we put the Dutch first and center again”. He also says that VVD leader Mark Rutte – “and I don’t mean that as a personal attack” – should leave as prime minister: “He has hurt too many people. And I’m not just talking about the benefit holder, the people of Groningen, but also about the farmers who are now outside of this, the fishermen, the pensioners.”
The banging continues, at the entrance a large group of security guards is walking back and forth restlessly. Or they are in corners discussing with each other. Mark Rutte says, as always in debates and other TV appearances in the past week, that “things did not go well”, and starts a list of everything that has turned out well for the Netherlands under his leadership.
Atje Chick
Presenter Rob Trip shifts attention from Rutte to Attje Kuiken of the PvdA – she is in this round together with Rutte and Wilders, the other political leaders sit on the side. Trip wants to know how Kuiken views the responsibility of PvdA members, in Rutte II, with gas extraction in Groningen and the surcharge scandal. “We have,” she says, “had political leaders who said: I take that to heart and take my responsibility, and they left.”
Is that, asks Rob Trip, an example for Rutte? Does she mean that? “I didn’t say that,” says Kuiken. Trip repeats his question. Kuiken clearly does not want to go into it. He wanted to know what she thought of the role of PvdA members, didn’t he? But Trip doesn’t give up. Should Rutte take an example from those PvdA members who have resigned? “You don’t want to answer it?”
Rutte looks at her with concentration, and when Attje Kuiken does not want to answer for the third time, he smiles – just for a moment. For weeks, the VVD and GroenLinks/PvdA had been warning voters: voting for that other party was bad for the Netherlands. But here the ‘two battle’ suddenly stopped: Rutte did not have to leave her. Trip asks for the fourth time. Kuiken says that she is “doing justice to the people of Groningen” by not having the debate about Rutte’s role here now. “Right point,” says Rutte.
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Van der Plas and Baudet
Before the debate, there were notes with their names and pictures on the politicians’ chairs: they had to sit there. Rutte sat in the front, BBB members saw two and a half hours before the debate that Caroline van der Plas was sitting on his left, and on the right: Mirjam Bikker of the ChristenUnie. Half an hour later, the photo of Esther Ouwehand (PvdD) was suddenly next to Rutte and in her old place, a little further on was that of Van der Plas. That is what the Party for the Animals had done: according to Ouwehand, she was in between two “very big people” – she did not want that. In consultation with the NOS management, BBB managed to get Van der Plas to end up next to Rutte again, this time in Bikker’s place.
And so it happened that Van der Plas, just before the broadcast was to start, put her head against Rutte’s shoulder with a photographer opposite her. He didn’t seem to get it. Thierry Baudet (FVD) was in the row behind them. He didn’t talk to anyone, looked at his phone. In the debate round on climate and energy, he faced Kuiken and Sigrid Kaag (D66). They didn’t feel like paying attention to him, Kuiken turned her back on him after just a few sentences – she felt like a debate with Kaag.
Rob Trip did not let that happen, he also gave the floor to Baudet. He mentioned the honking farmers outside. “I do not believe,” said Kuiken, “that Mr. Baudet has ever seen a farmer up close. Maybe he has a pair of brown boots at home.” But she also found him “not so relevant to the debate” and turned back to Kaag.
Three quarters of an hour later, the banging started. The audience had to stay indoors afterwards, they were allowed to get a drink at the bar. There was special security for the political leaders. At eleven o’clock the tractors drove off, the doors opened again.