A cabinet can therefore also fall twice. This insight owes society to the outgoing cabinet. It happened in June, when the PVV left the cabinet, and it happened on Friday evening, when NSC did the same. But that one fact is immediately the only thing to be grateful about. The (ever) four coalition parties have turned out to be so incompetent that the Netherlands has become unmanageable. And the sad thing is that a new, fully -fledged cabinet will take a long time: first there are parliamentary elections, on October 29, then a new formation starts. With a bit of bad luck, the Netherlands is stuck with this cabinet for another year. A cabinet that only consists of two parties, VVD and BBB, only supports 32 room seats, and where there is only a small core of ministers.
Of course there is a lot to say about the way in which the NSC-Smal part abandoned the outgoing cabinet. That was chaotic, apparently without any direction, and with little eye for the immense consequences. A ministry Leiden is not a normal job, and a cabinet is not a school class. What is clear is that a dormant conflict between outgoing minister Caspar Veldkamp (Foreign Affairs, NSC) and ministers of VVD and BBB quickly escalated. It was stricter sanctions against Israel, such as a trade ban on products from illegal settlements. Veldkamp was not given room to defend these steps in the room. He stepped on furiously, followed by the (surprised) NSC colleagues.
Of course this was an impulsive response. But Veldkamp was right in the core. He was responsible for this file, and rightly saw that harder measures against Israel are desperately needed. The genocidal violence in Gaza makes the situation more acute every day. Taking another round of European member states, what VVD and BBB wanted, did not do justice to the need in Gaza. In addition: settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are also illegal according to the Netherlands. Products that come from there should not be traded with the Netherlands. It was good that Veldkamp wanted to tackle that. The former diplomat and ambassador in Tel Aviv had been running into the limited play area of the coalitionmates for some time. He usually operated cautiously, but spoke more and more often sharply internally. He seemed to feel the urgency that is missing in the cabinet in the cabinet. The remaining coalition partners with their unwillingness to do something more against Israel this departure.
The price is nevertheless high. A skilled minister leaves his mail and with him a very squadron. The Netherlands has become practically unregulable. The thinned group of ministers that should fit on the store in the coming months is too small and not able to manage effectively. There is now a strange trunk cabinet that has no support inside and outside the room, and that in a time of enormous international unrest. The coalition parties should think about a solution. Perhaps the ministerial team can be supplemented with administrators without political color, or from other parties, as happened in the Coronacrisis. Perhaps a new intermediate cabinet is an option, or a spring agreement-like appointment with the opposition. Nothing is perfect, but it goes completely wrong administratively. Looking at this misunderstanding for months is certainly not an option.
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