Timmermans accused of "taxing the Netherlands to pieces" in election program

Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD) and Pieter Omtzigt (NSC) accused Frans Timmermans of raising taxes too much in the GroenLinks-PvdA party program. The left-wing party leader wants rich people to “pay quite a bit extra.” But he will “tax the Netherlands to pieces,” Yeşilgöz accused him during the RTL election debate between the three frontrunners in the polls on Sunday.

Yeşilgöz believes that Timmermans is pitting groups against each other by continually emphasizing that he wants to ask a “sacrifice” from the rich to help the poorest. Helping people out of poverty can only be achieved by lowering taxes and making work more rewarding, according to the VVD leader.

In the debate, Timmermans stressed that he thinks it logical “that you (...) ask the richest in the Netherlands to make a sacrifice,” for example, by paying for the increase in the minimum wage and the associated benefits.

“I feel like we’re going back in time 12 years,” Yeşilgöz countered. In recent years, the government has indeed and increasingly asked for contributions from people with high incomes and large companies, said the VVD leader. She thinks that Timmermans pits Dutch people against each other. “As if that would lift even one child out of poverty.”

Timmermans didn’t like that accusation. “Didn’t you just see that video?” he asked Yeşilgöz, referring to an earlier segment in the broadcast in which people emotionally explained that they were in danger of being unable to pay their bills.

According to the Quote 500, the Netherlands has a record number of billionaires, and the rich are only getting richer. According to the Dutch Planning Office (CPB), thanks to measures against poverty the government announced on Budget Day, poverty in the Netherlands will remain stable next year.

“I really think that the government can look at itself,” said Yeşilgöz. Like Omtzigt, she would rather see the government make cuts to free up money to implement their plans.

In that respect, Omtzigt was also critical of the VVD. The Cabinet’s coalition agreement, which included the Liberal Party, was “more similar to the PvdA program,” said the popular MP. While VVD, CDA, and D66 had promised less expenditure, he noted.

According to GroenLinks-PvdA leader Timmermans, under Omtzigt’s NSC, “the strongest shoulders will not bear the heaviest burdens.” The social democrat Omtzigt also admitted this in the RTL debate. Timmermans took a much more critical tone toward the NSC leader than last week when the two spoke at length on their own initiative during a mutual debate.

“How do you want to make the Netherlands fairer?” Timmermans challenged Omtzigt. Omtzigt emphasized his plans to, for example, reduce people’s energy costs, including by reducing taxes. As far as Omtzigt is concerned, “the gas that we will extract from the North Sea will be available affordably to Dutch households.”

Timmermans called it disappointing that Omtzigt would rather tax the purchase of own shares at the European level instead of doing so in the Netherlands. He is waiting for Brussels to do the work, the left-wing party leader concluded. “I note that you are not providing clarity on the minimum wage,” he added - another point the two politicians previously disputed. “I think that’s a shame,” Timmermans said.

On the point of clarity, Yeşilgöz criticized Omtzigt for refusing to clarify whether he wanted to be Prime Minister. “I wish he had said it tonight,” Yeşilgöz said, noting that there are only 2.5 weeks until the elections.

Because the NSC is high in the polls, the question of whether Omtzigt wants to become Prime Minister has been a hot topic for weeks. “What matters to me is that the agenda is implemented,” Omtzigt said during the debate. “It is not without reason that I said in the beginning that I prefer to do this from parliament.”

On Monday, the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) criticized the political parties for not making the choices necessary to solve the Netherlands’ persistent problems. In their election programs, the parties make many promises about which problems they plan to tackle but don’t specify precisely what they will do to address these issues, the SCP said.

Governing together

Omtzigt thinks his NSC can cooperate with both the VVD and GroenLinks-PvdA. VVD leader Yeşilgöz said she wants to work with parties that “have real solutions and very concrete ideas,” which seems to push NSC aside a bit. Timmermans sees more in common with the NSC than with the VVD.

Timmermans has “not heard enough from the VVD leader about how things will really be different in this country. I have heard a little more from Mr. Omtzigt,” Timmermans said. Change is desperately needed, he stressed. “You really cannot imagine that we can continue like in recent years. The changes are not a Prime Minister who only serves eight years or watery compromises.”

Yeşilgöz said last week that Mark Rutte had been Prime Minister for too long, and she believes that the office should not last longer than eight years. In addition, she no longer wants to make “watery compromises.” According to her, that has not done the VVD profile any good.

She herself held the cards close to her chest. “I leave it up to the voter first.” Her preference, then, is for a “Cabinet that arranges real solutions.” In doing so, she seemed to oppose Omtzigt, about whom she said earlier in the debate that he lacks concrete proposals to, for example, reduce the number of migrants.

Omtzigt sees common ground with both the VVD and GL-PvdA. For the VVD, these are in the areas of migration and climate. When it comes to social security, Omtzigt sees more in common with Timmermans’ party.

According to a poll by EenVandaag among almost 25,000 members of its opinion panel, most voters of NSC, VVD, and BBB are open to a coalition with Geert Wilders and his PVV. PVV voters also want to govern with these parties. A massive 62 percent of voters consider who their parties would work with an important factor when determining their vote.

When voters were presented with a number of variants of coalitions, a right-wing coalition with the VVD, NSC, BBB, and PVV received the most support. 48 percent found it acceptable if those parties entered a coalition. According to the EenVandaag and Ipsos poll, those parties would get 83 seats in the upcoming parliamentary election on November 22.