Good job

Does the Netherlands actually have a government? The general election was a year ago and what has been achieved since then? It is hard to say.


The foreign and defence ministries still haven’t decided whether the Netherlands should continue to support the Nato mission in Afghanistan.
Social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner still hasn’t come up with plans to reform redundancy law which stand any chance of getting through parliament.
Finance minister Wouter Bos seems to think an extra tax on expensive houses is the way to get the man-in-the-street to accept million euro bonuses for company directors while his own spending power is slashed.
Education minister Ronald Plasterk wants to pay teachers more but doesn’t know how to do it. Health minister Ab Klink is busy drawing up endless plans.
Environment minister Jacqueline Kramer has gone into (biofuel-powered) overdrive and home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst does not seem to have done anything.
Still there is always nature management minister Gerda Verburg who has sanctioned a hunt, ensuring a plentiful supply of wild boar will hit the nation’s butchers shops in time for Christmas.
Then again, as the CBS says today, economic growth is at record levels, exports are booming and unemployment is falling. Perhaps we don’t really need a government anyway.

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