with videoPrime Minister Mark Rutte and Pieter Omtzigt clashed hard tonight about text messages from the Sywert deal. Omtzigt expressed the suspicion that ‘political reasons’ are used at the Ministry of General Affairs to determine which text messages are not or are not kept and made public. Rutte then became angry and stated that Omtzigt ‘has fallen through a lower limit’.
Jan Hoedeman
Latest update:
11-10-22, 21:00
It recently became known that Prime Minister Mark Rutte acted in violation of the Archives Act by deleting apps and text messages on his phone for years. The Government Information and Heritage Inspectorate concluded that. Whether Rutte has removed important information about political decisions cannot be ascertained, according to the Inspectorate.
“I don’t believe there are no political reasons behind archiving text messages,” Pieter Omtzigt accused the Prime Minister. As proof of this, he submitted the text messages that he himself sent to General Affairs about the face mask affair about Sywert van Lienden. “They were on the table within three weeks!”
Rutte then exploded: ,,You are falling through a lower limit here. We’re crossing a border here. Omtzigt adds a WOB request to show that Rutte and General Affairs are covering everything. No way!’
‘Laws don’t apply to the top’
Earlier this year, Rutte already felt his personal integrity compromised in the text message issue, ,,If there is no trust, I’ll hear about it. Then I will do something else.”
However, the House of Representatives wanted to know whether the prime minister was willing to ask whether his colleagues from the cabinet were willing to reveal the text messages they had exchanged. Rutte was not interested in that, because privacy and the unity of government policy could be at stake. SP MP Renske Leijten lashed out: ,,That’s how it always goes: laws apply, but not for the top.”
De Volkskrant revealed that the prime minister had been deleting daily text messages for years, but whether much relevant information was lost can no longer be ascertained. The prime minister said earlier this year that he knew a lot, because otherwise his Nokia would become too slow.
‘Do not rule out the possibility that the cabinet will walk away again’
Rutte also addressed the SP’s question whether the cabinet would walk away from the House of Representatives more often. Recently, the cabinet had the historic scoop in its entirety when the finance minister was accused by the FvD of being a British secret agent during general political reflections.
,,It is not the intention to do that regularly,” said Rutte. “I don’t want to, but I can’t categorically rule it out.” Looking back, he found the FvD’s reproaches against his colleague Kaag that went beyond all limits “that this was the only possible reaction.”
By way of exception, Speaker of the House of Representatives Vera Bergkamp also intervened in the debate. About her conversation with Rutte after the departure of the cabinet, she said: “We have stated that this cannot be repeated.”
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