Monday was dominated from early to late by Pieter Omtzigt and his new party, Tuesday would be entirely for the old party(ies) and their ‘new, old’ party leader, as a PvdA member called him. Frans Timmermans was elected by 91.8 percent of the members as the leader of the collaboration party PvdA/GroenLinks. The choice for him was no surprise to anyone, there was no choice, by the way, but news is news. So I was ready. One today. Nothing. It RTL News from eight thirty. The news of his party leadership is reported, but not immediately. Only after the Greek wildfires.
We see how the newly elected party leader feels in the mosh pit filled with wildly enthusiastic GroenLinksers and PvdA members. They clap and shout, Timmermans calms them down with a joke about his “huge ego” that threatens to take on “stratospheric forms” because of all that applause. Then, slightly out of breath, he begins his first official speech as leader of the ‘united left’. He talks about restoring trust in each other, restoring trust in ourselves, restoring trust in politics. For example, he embroiders his words into an artful sample, and does not shy away from the big word, which is usually a bit dirty for left-wing politicians. Power. You can be right, he argues, but to get it you need power.
Exactly this bit – the on-the-go joke, the restoration of confidence, the verbal grab for power – sent it NOS News from eight o’clock, after the Greek wildfires and before the extreme heat wave in France. For Pieter Omtzigt, the reporters set up in his hometown of Tubbergen, for Timmermans they reported from Brussels or The Hague. Would that immediately tell the viewer something about the stature of these two men? Close to home, province, renowned in its own country. Versus international, city, praised – according to NOS reporter Kysia Hekster – by friend, foe and abroad.
On a big foot
Would make me wonder what News hour had in store and whether Timmermans would be there. And while I was more or less waiting for that, I took a closer look B&B Full of love. Just at the moment that new love candidate Francisca took care of the feet of B&B owner Leendert. She was not only a pedicure, but also a toe reader. She read from his big toe that he was thinking a lot. Not an easy man, she noticed. “Someone who will run off with you when you are weak.” Then she fiddled with his mini digitus, his little toe. The emotion toe. With him it was “quite thick” so she concluded that he is an emotional person. Analyzing both his feet – he lived on rather large ones – she dared to say that Leendert was a “nice, good guy” and not a backstabbing bastard”. If it were that easy, you would kindly ask all new party leaders to take off their shoes upon entering the rooms in The Hague.
Nieuwsuur also started with Timmermans’ joke about the size of his ego. Jeroen Wollaars called him “the man of the day”. But the seat next to him at the table remained nicely empty. People talked about him with Nynke de Zoeten in The Hague and Kysia Hekster in Brussels. And earlier in the day, Frans Timmermans was asked what he meant by his statement about power. The left, he said, craves it. “But when we have it, we feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.” He didn’t seem too bothered by it himself.
No Timmermans on the talk shows either. Didn’t he or she didn’t want him, what’s going on here? Attje Kuiken represented PvdA/GroenLinks On 1. Humberto Pieter Omtzigt was a guest. I felt faint. It was Frans’s day after all.