PM Schoof says Cabinet will not listen to party leaders

It cannot be that the party leaders of the coalition determine what the Cabinet will do, Dick Schoof says in his first major newspaper interview as Prime Minister with De Telegraaf. As a member of the PvdA, he ended up "on the right-wing track" because of his experience as a civil servant at the AIVD intelligence service and the IND immigration authority.

"The Cabinet makes decisions. I can well imagine that it will be scrutinized in some cases - especially on very sensitive issues such as the rule of law and migration. But ultimately, it is up to the Cabinet and not individual party leaders or individual ministers to settle this individually with each other," Schoof replied to the question of whether ministers make decisions without speaking to their party leader.

There are also "no extra seats at the Cabinet table" for PVV party leader Geert Wilders and NSC party leader Pieter Omtzigt, as the interviewers said. According to Schoof, "These are incredibly dull remarks. In my opinion, they are disrespectful to this Prime Minister. It's really inappropriate to refer to them as if they were in government all the time."

About his PvdA period, the Prime Minister said: "I think that because of the different jobs I had, I was already on the right-wing side of the PvdA. And that a great deal of realism came into my life." His period at the IND shaped him in terms of migration. "I saw both sides of the coin. Refugees who had left in real need and ended up stuck here in an asylum system that was completely stuck. Even then. But you also saw the other side: the people who were looking for a better life and were manipulating things."

Migration and housing are the points where the prime minister really wants to achieve results. "I also want to try to bring people together a little, see if we can get along a little. People do not intrinsically dislike each other." Schoof advocated not to exaggerate differences in positions. "That is a risk in our society."

According to him, a Schoof II Cabinet would be "very strange." "I am a non-partisan prime minister. If this Cabinet completes its term or falls, I will not participate in the elections. I hope to be 71 by then. It would be very strange if they do not find a candidate from their own midst after new elections."