Former asylum minister Faber insists memoir didn’t breach Cabinet secrecy rules

Everything discussed in the new book written by former asylum minister Marjolein Faber was discussed outside the cabinet, the PVV politician has said on the television program Pauw and De Wit. Revealing cabinet information is prohibited. Caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof stated on Wednesday that he will not file charges against Faber.

Faber’s memoirs have caused a lot of commotion, mainly due to the fact that MPs believed she had leaked information from the Council of Ministers meetings. “But everything in the book was discussed outside the cabinet,” she said Wednesday evening, referring, for instance, to talks that took place during cabinet recesses.

In the conversation with the TV presenter Jeroen Pauw, Faber spoke in a similar way as she did during her time as minister. She repeated a lot of her answers without going into too much detail regarding the questions. She repeatedly stated that she supports making illegal residence a crime, but declined to address whether helping undocumented people should also be criminalized.

Faber also stated that her asylum laws would have helped the country. She thinks it would have helped end the housing shortage. Pauw pushed back forcefully, insisting it was incorrect. “Why don’t you just tell the truth?”

During a segment of the broadcast, multiple leaders of parliamentary factions criticized Faber for not performing her duties properly, saying she failed to engage enough with MPs to secure backing for her bills. Both in her book and on the program, the PVV politician insisted she is against backroom politics. “You have to make promises to win their support, and I don’t like doing that,” she said.

Faber holds the ninth spot on the PVV’s list, virtually guaranteeing her a seat in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, following the elections.

Schoof has said that he believes that Faber did not violate her confidentiality obligation in her book and therefore will not press charges. The prime minister stated this in response to questions from D66, which, along with NSC, argued that Schoof should have pressed charges.

The debate centers on a section of Faber’s book where she recounts a meeting with then-NSC Minister Judith Uitermark (Interior Affairs) regarding asylum policies. In the passage, the PVV politician identifies specific measures that she claims Uitermark intended to eliminate from her asylum legislation.

Constitutional law expert Wim Voermans questioned on X whether Faber may have committed an official offense, noting that it is forbidden to leak information from cabinet meetings.

The government lawyer has advised Schoof on the matter and also reviewed documents regarding what was discussed in the cabinet. According to the non-partisan prime minister, there was no evidence that “these passages as such” were addressed in the cabinet. “All of this leads me to conclude that there is currently no reasonable suspicion a criminal offense has occurred,” Schoof stated.

The government lawyer said it cannot be excluded that some passages in the book refer to cabinet discussions. However, the lawyer also pointed out that Faber included matters that were “discussed publicly in a broader sense,” including her exchanges with Uitermark.