Schoof I Cabinet already nearly collapsed once: report
Less than two months after its inception, the Schoof I Cabinet nearly collapsed at the end of August. During a night-time meeting about the national budget, coalition parties VVD and NSC were diametrically opposed to the point that VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz proposed announcing the Cabinet’s collapse, sources close to the coalition told Nieuwsuur. PVV leader Geert Wilders managed to keep everyone together.
This happened during the night of August 29 to 30. It was already known that it was a much longer than expected and difficult meeting and that NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt became very emotional. But now sources told Nieuwsuur that the main players were almost ready to throw in the towel. A collapse seemed “inevitable” that night, the current affairs program’s sources said.
The argument was about purchasing power. The VVD wanted workers to see the biggest purchasing power increase next year. The NSC thought that it was important for the unemployed and pensioners to receive more.
The conflict escalated to the point that Omtzigt announced his party would not support the budget. He cited the extra-parliamentary nature of the Cabinet, suggesting that the VVD, PVV, and BBB find support for the budget from the opposition parties in parliament, the sources said.
That was unacceptable to Yeşilgöz and Prime Minister Dick Schoof because it would mean that Finance Minister Eelco Heinen (VVD) would have to present his budget to parliament - a notoriously difficult parliamentary debate - without the coalition’s support. Yeşilgöz proposed to go to the waiting press together and announce that the coalition had collapsed.
In an ultimate attempt to keep the government together, Wilders went to talk to Omtzigt one more time. What was said is unclear, but it ended in Omtzigt going back to the table and supporting the budget without further explanation. According to Nieuwsuur’s sources, Omtzigt left the discussions immediately after expressing his support. He also temporarily stepped down as NSC leader less than two weeks later, claiming health reasons.
According to NOS political reporter Arjan Noorlander, this shows the major political differences between the four coalition parties. “The Cabinet had only been in office for a month at that time, and yet the end was suddenly in sight,” he said. “Since then, the coalition parties have been circling each other. There is a reluctance to talk to each other about political issues because people fear ending up in the same situation again.”
According to Noorlander, this explains why tackling asylum migration is suddenly going so slowly. “They are buying time to prevent new noise and problems for a while.”
