During the debate on the results of the provincial elections, which was won by the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), one opposition politician succeeded the other. Only later do the faction leaders of the coalition parties speak, and then Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) and the three deputy prime ministers (of D66, CDA and ChristenUnie) respond. Group leaders of the coalition parties barely interrupted fellow opposition politicians. The opposition leaders themselves also seem to reserve their so-called interruptions mainly for the coalition parties.
The opposition parties, most of whom consulted with each other prior to the debate, believe that the cabinet should take the voter’s signal seriously. Confidence in politics is low, and the cabinet has too little time to govern, is the tenor. According to PvdD leader Esther Ouwehand and SP leader Lilian Marijnissen, the coalition is far too preoccupied with saving “the political skin”. Solving actual problems is considered less important, say the politicians. Parties from left to right continued to press for solutions to break the nitrogen deadlock.
But the mutual relationships in the coalition were also emphasized. Where the CDA cannot live with the nitrogen paragraph in the coalition agreement, D66 says to “keep course”. According to the opposition parties, the fact that the coalition will only start negotiating about the nitrogen agreements again when there is more clarity about the new councils in the provinces, leads to great uncertainty. In addition, the coalition is only postponing a cabinet crisis for a few weeks, says PvdA leader Attje Kuiken.