The nineteen parties that competed for the favor of the Groningen voter on Wednesday, debated one last time in the Forum Groningen on Monday.
,, Moi, mienjong! With a firm slap on the shoulder, Volt party leader Jan Jacob Hilberdink greets his colleague Robert Pestman van Belang van Nederland (BVNL),, Is it okay for her? ” he asks his opponent. Pestman is his relaxed self,, I? ” he replies. ,, I was born clear! ”
Fifteen minutes before the start of the big party leader debate of Newspaper of the North , RTV Noord, EYE TV Not everyone is so relaxed. Nineteen party leaders stand in battle order at the top of the fully booked grandstand in the central entrance. They are called down in six for a debate led by RTV Noord presenter Marcel Nieuwenweg.
The bookmark is already on an appropriate passage from the Bible
One saunters back and forth while waiting for his or her turn, the other strikes up a conversation with a colleague. Jonathan Scotto di Minico from ‘Jesus Lives!’ walks in a bright red sweatshirt with his party name on it, and the bookmarked Bible in his hand at a passage he thinks he’ll come in handy.
And, hey: there is also Bart van der Werf, the retiring party leader of the Forum for Democracy. He has not been seen in the Statenzaal since September, but now he stands between his former political friends such as Pestman and PVV leader Ton van Kesteren. Not with his successor as party leader Jan Leonard Epema, who just missed the start of the debate due to other obligations and had his number 2, Tyler ter Meulen, do the honors.
Nineteen party leaders, six themes, eight minutes per debate
It deals with six themes, each with eight minutes of debate based on a proposition. Afterwards, political analysts Thereza Langeler of Newspaper of the North and Robert Pastoor from RTV Noord on what they heard. Subsequently, OOG TV reporter Wouter Holsappel interviews one of the political newcomers on the iconic escalators of the Forum and the direction switches to the provincial government, where RTV Noord-Staten reporter Martijn Folkers puts the leader of one of the established parties to the test. And interviews at the end of each round DvhN -journalist Colin Mooijman a leader of one of the opposition parties, as a prelude to the next bloc.
The participants in the debates have a Martini tower with a green and a red side on their speaking table. They can turn them forward at will to indicate whether they agree with the statement or not. Immediately at the first position, VVD party leader and deputy Mirjam Wulfse and her PvdA colleague Tjeerd van Dekken caused a stir by turning their turret green. In doing so, they endorse the statement that the provincial government has done too little in the past four years to get the reinforcement file going.
Analyst panel: ‘It is in any case very fair’
Remarkable reaction from two party leaders who were part of that provincial government for four years. Van Dekken sees the statement mainly as an assignment, he clarifies: the province has indeed done a lot of work, “but we are not there yet.” Still, analysts are surprised. ,,It was certainly very fair”, says Langeler
And so the debate continues, from gas to farmers and the nitrogen dossier and via Eemshaven, Groningen Airport Eelde, the energy transition to the quality of life in the countryside. Eight minutes turns out to be little time for the six of them to respond to a statement and also to each other. Let alone to parry if the honorable opponent does not have the facts in order either. There is little room for nuance. RTV Noord debate leader Marcel Nieuwenweg sometimes urges strict urgency: “You still have 1 minute.”
One-liners score the most generous laughs from the public gallery
The greatest improvisational talents score the most generous laugh from the stands. Especially PVV member Van Kesteren appears to be handy and peppers his contribution with one-liners. For example, in the debate about the future of Eelde: unplugged? Or not, as Van Kesteren thinks: ‘If you still want to fly to the Mediterranean in the future, vote for the PVV.’ When JA21 captain Floor van Scherpenzeel is called down for her next debate a little later, she jokingly seeks his help: ,,Do you have a nice one-liner for me?”
Positions are taken, the parties try to profile themselves in relation to each other, but there is no real debate on Monday either. A good election result is nice, but the real political breaking points will only be on the table after Wednesday when negotiations have to be held about a new college.