Dutch parliament to vote on motion of no-confidence against asylum minister on Wednesday

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, is going to debate Marjolein Faber’s refusal to sign off on Royal distinctions for five volunteers for their work with asylum seekers. Prime Minister Dick Schoof and the Minister of Interior Affairs, Judith Uitermark, were planning on signing, but the asylum minister is not deviating from her stance. The opposition has criticized the state of affairs and thinks that the public facing unity of Cabinet policy has been broken.

Several parties already threatened to file a motion of no confidence against Faber. CDA leader Henri Bontenbal wants an apology from Faber, or he will vote no confidence. The vote for the no confidence motion will take place after the debate.

The Tweede Kamer are going to debate Faber and Schoof. Jesse Klaver of GroenLinks-PvdA is requesting a letter from both of them prior to the debate in which they explain whether there is still public facing unity when it comes to Cabinet policy. He also wants to know exactly what has happened in the Cabinet.

The decision to debate the matter came after the coalition parties NSC and BBB expressed their support for Faber. This puts pressure on the other coalition party, the VVD, to make a decision regarding the PVV minister.

Nicolien van Vroonhoven, who is NSC’s vice parliamentary leader, confirmed that the party are supporting Faber “as it stands”.

She added that she does not need to hear an apology from Faber, but she does want the minister and Schoof to portray unity within the Cabinet policies. She admitted that she currently understands the concerns of opposition parties regarding this. “I am not completely convinced.”

Van Vroonhoven added that the Cabinet has a significant problem if there is no sign of unity. Her answer regarding support for Faber was also far from convincing. “It's not that we don't support her,” she initially replied.

The asylum minister refused to budge from her stance earlier on Tuesday. "As a minister, I am not a rubber stamp machine, if I don't want to sign for it, then I won't sign." Faber acknowledged that she wanted to send a signal with it. "The continuing flow of asylum seekers must be reversed."

She accepted that Schoof and Uitermark were going to sign for it. “I am not going to stop that.” Faber does not think that the unity of Cabinet policy has been broken as a result of the disagreement.

Faber did not answer any questions from parliament on Tuesday. The minister kept reading the same answer. "I can answer this a hundred more times, no problem at all", said Faber.

She also gave the same answer to more general questions from Joost Eerdmans (JA21) and Marieke Wijen-Nass (BBB), which were about the fact that the influx of asylum seekers must be reduced.

"This is a complete rant about nothing. This is no answer at all", said Eerdmans. He called Faber's answers "nonsense.”

If the no-confidence vote is passed then Faber will be relieved of her duties as Minister of Asylum and Migration. Many will also wonder what this could mean for the future of the Cabinet.