Opinion

<<<  >>>

The national interest

Wednesday 21 July 2010

It is time that political leaders put the national interest ahead of party political considerations, according to two Dutch newspaper editorials.

Telegraaf

It was to be expected that talks on forming a 'purple plus' coalition would fail, writes the Telegraaf. The four parties - VVD, D66, PvdA and GroenLinks - are so far apart when it comes to polices it would have been a wonder if they could have delivered a cabinet.

The failure of the talks is no loss. Pressure from the left-wing parties would have meant that an important part of the necessary cuts would have been left out of the cabinet's plans. And the VVD is right to insist that the knives are out for government financing - and that the cost of the cuts not be passed on to citizens in the form of higher taxes. That steadfastness turned out to be breaking point.

Indeed, the only good thing to come out of the talks was the question of immigration. All parties realise that something has to be done about the influx.

Talks on forming another cabinet must now go ahead and a combination of VVD, PvdA and CDA is the most obvious one. That might be difficult for the PvdA to accept, but the party must start thinking in the national importance.

And the national importance requires a cabinet that will take action in the short time. Our country cannot permit itself a long formation period in the current economic crisis.

AD

A country gets the government it deserves, writes AD editor in chief Bart Verkade. For the Netherlands, that means nothing, absolutely nothing - at the moment.

A totally divided country produced an election result that can cook up nothing. Well, perhaps a mince tart or something - but then every amateur cook knows that you need a solid pastry base to stop it all falling apart.

And that is what is lacking. Until now, the formation talks have focused on what ingredients don't mix. One recipe after another has been chucked into the bin while in the kitchen the oven smokes away.

For a time it even looked as if 'purple plus' might work, but pressure from outside quickly revealed that recipe too would flop. And that is largely due to the negotiators, despite their best intentions. The two smaller parties were prepared to compromise, but they had no choice. The VVD and PvdA continued to clash about the size of the cuts needed to restore the nation's financial health - as they had done throughout the campaign.

It is sad that both leaders were not prepared to act in the national interest, without looking over their shoulders at their supporters. Indeed, the interference from so many prominent party members on the sidelines no longer qualifies as strategy but obstruction. They undermined the formation process out of party political interests.

In the meantime, the national debt is going up by €100m a day and there is no prospect of a cabinet because someone always says njet. That demands an unconventional solution, people who are prepared to put their party to one side and work entirely on the contents. The ingredients are there, but where is the cook who can combine them properly?

Readers' comments