Infighting again has Schoof I Cabinet on shaky ground
The Schoof I Cabinet can again feel its foundations shaking. There are several ongoing fights between Cabinet members on asylum and nitrogen, the talks for the spring update to the national budget haven’t progressed beyond the basics, and another Cabinet meeting has devolved into a screaming match, sources close to the government told the Telegraaf. With the coalition parties losing support in the polls, the focus is increasingly on maintaining their image in case another election is on the horizon, the sources said.
On Monday, March 24, the Cabinet held its weekly Council of Ministers. Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber (PVV) strongly criticized Prime Minister Dick Schoof because the scrapping of the asylum distribution law was not happening fast enough. Schoof had removed the discussion of the plan from the agenda because Faber had not done her homework properly, according to the newspaper’s sources.
Faber’s lashing out made Housing Minister Mona Keijzer (BBB) snap. Keijzer meticulously dissected the Asylum Minister in very audible whispers, the sources said. Keijzer criticized Faber’s sloppy working methods and called her unnecessarily edgy and rude. Faber shot back that she is done with always having to go the extra mile while the rest of the Cabinet stands in her way.
Keijzer and Faber have been butting heads for some time. Their portfolios overlap - if Faber reduces the number of asylum seekers fleeing to the Netherlands as the PVV promised, there would be less pressure on the super tight housing market. And if Keijzer scraps refugees’ priority for scarce social housing, Faber is stuck with even more overcrowded asylum shelters.
Meanwhile, the negotiations on the Spring Memorandum - the spring update to the national budget - have not progressed beyond the start-up phase. All four coalition parties have a wishlist, but the budget has no room. “There are tensions,” a source said. “The puzzle is complicated, and every day something new is added: industry, defense, the WIA, decentralized governments. And then the factions also have their own list.”
The gap is even wider when it comes to nitrogen, where the BBB and VVD are bashing heads in particular. The VVD is convinced that livestock cuts are inevitable. The BBB, whose existence depends on farmers, is vehemently opposed. In the meantime, nitrogen emissions aren’t falling, and there is less and less room in the nature protection standards for construction.
Meanwhile, support for the NSC and BBB has plummeted in the polls. The PVV is also on a downward trend. Only the VVD is doing well. On the one hand, that is helping matters - the BBB and NSC are taking more moderating tones for fear of a new election. “Low polls help NSC and BBB act nicer,” a source told the Telegraaf. On the other hand, it also fuels the urge for all four parties to profile themselves, instead of focusing on working together.
