NSC congress: You won't achieve anything with shouting and false solutions, Omtzigt says

Several hundred members of NSC gathered on Saturday morning for the party's members' congress. The day began with breakout sessions in which they could talk to members of parliament and government officials about a variety of topics, but also "political current affairs". The press was kept at a distance from these meetings.

Last week, party leader Pieter Omtzigt, who had been ill at home for weeks, returned to the lower house of Dutch parliament. At the end of the morning, he addressed the congress, as did fellow party leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven, who replaced him in recent weeks.

NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt said during his speech that by shouting loudly and coming up with illusory solutions, the government will not solve the problems facing the Netherlands. He specifically mentioned migration as an example of an issue on which little has been achieved.

"Polarization becomes a problem when politicians add fuel to the fire, use big words, make impossible proposals and leave problems unsolved," Omtzigt said. "Then you have a debate for the sake of debate. Then you insult each other for the sake of insulting. Then you shout the loudest to get into the newspaper, the news and social media. But you neglect your task as a politician, which is to work hard on solutions for the Netherlands."

Omtzigt reflected on the departure of State Secretaries Folkert Idsinga and Nora Achahbar and Members of Parliament Rosanne Hertzberger and Femke Zeedijk. "I understand a number of their objections very well," he said. "Because with the current polarization and hostile tone in the debate, you seem to win the public debate in the short term, but you lose a part of society. And worse: with apparent solutions you sometimes make the problems worse."

In recent weeks two state secretaries, Folkert Idsinga and Nora Achahbar, and two members of parliament, Rosanne Hertzberger and Femke Zeedijk, resigned. All four of them indicated rough behavior in the coalition as a reason for resigning. NSC almost withdrew completely from the Schoof Cabinet.

The NSC founder acknowledged that the contradictions in politics and society have proven to be sharper than he had thought. "The seas are currently incredibly high in the Netherlands, even higher than I had expected. It is wind force 11 in society." On the other hand, he also called it good that problems are at least being named.

According to Omtzigt, the departed state secretaries have achieved more than asylum minister Marjolein Faber. He mentioned the tax relief as a result of the tax plan, which was largely guided through the Lower House by minister Eelco Heinen because Idsinga resigned during the process. And Achahbar "won the trust of the allowance parents, which is very important". They did their work "often in silence and without polarizing".

Omtzigt, who received a standing ovation before and after his speech, also received applause for Nicolien van Vroonhoven, who replaced him during his illness. "She has shown what the core values ​​of the party are and were." Under her leadership, negotiations were resumed on the asylum chapter of the coalition agreement, which meant that the controversial use of emergency law was off the table.

"State emergency law can only be used for an acute emergency situation," Omtzigt emphasized. "The situation is serious, but can be addressed through emergency legislation."