PM Rutte calls on Dutch to protect NL in open letter

Prime Minister Mark Rutte kicked off the VVD's campaign for the Provincial States elections with an open letter published in multiple newspapers. In the letter, addressed to "all the ordinary normal people", Rutte calls on the Dutch to protect the Netherlands. Remarkably, the VVD is not mentioned once, AD reports.

Rutte describes the Netherlands as a fragile thing that can be destroyed, like "a vase held by 17 million ordinary and special people". As long as everyone works together, everything is okay. But if one person pulls too hard, the vase will break. Something like that happened in the United Kingdom with the Brexit, according to Rutte. They dropped the vase. "There the politicians and residents forgot what they achieved together. Now they sit in chaos", he said.

The Prime Minister also wrote about politicians who like to shout things without taking responsibility for what they said and the consequences thereof, though he did not say specifically who he was speaking about. "It is easy to enlarge differences into hard contrasts", Rutte said. But we must protect the Netherlands, by making compromises, he said. "I almost never get completely what I want. Mostly I make compromises, add water to the wine. Because I always feel the responsibility to hold on to that vase. Because for me the Netherlands is much, much bigger and more important than myself. Always. Everywhere", he said.

This is not the first time that the VVD chose to graft its election campaign on Rutte himself, according to AD. The party did the same for the parliamentary elections. Then the Prime Minister also wrote an open letter to all Dutch people. Previous VVD campaigns focused on the VVD logo.

The Provincial States election will be held on March 20th and will determine the composition of the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate. The government coalition currently has a minimal majority in the Senate. If it loses that majority, the government parties will have to count on the support of opposition parties to implement all of its plans.