It seems certain that D66 intends to put a strong stamp on the Rutte IV cabinet. With the ministers of Finance, VWS and Defense, the party will receive heavy posts in the new cabinet, in addition to the ministers that the party already had, such as Education, or who had been expected in The Hague for a while that would be for D66: Climate and Energy. The Minister for Legal Protection will also be added, previously a VVD post. D66 would have asked the mayor of Almere Franc Weerwind for this. For Education, the D66 candidate would be Robbert Dijkgraaf, director of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton.
Also read the news item: New cabinet: De Jonge and Hoekstra not at old post, Grapperhaus is leaving
The fact that party leader Sigrid Kaag has not opted for her great love, Foreign Affairs, but for Finance – she also becomes deputy prime minister – reinforces that image, according to insiders. She then works closely with the Prime Minister and has influence on all ministries. In addition, a Minister of Finance often does not have to do much in the Netherlands to be popular. Although CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra did not succeed in taking advantage of this in the elections.
The fact that his party now receives Foreign Affairs, and that he himself is mentioned by sources as a minister in that department, does not seem to indicate that the CDA wants to draw as much power and influence as possible in the coming years. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is often away. It can be difficult to lead another party then.
If Hoekstra had really opted for that, the question is what plan the CDA has for the coming years. Until recently, the idea seemed to still be alive in that party that the CDA could become the largest again if Mark Rutte leaves after his fourth cabinet. But if you look at the bad polls, is that still realistic? And what is the goal then? Saving the party from the margins?
Trade for the VVD
In any case, the CDA will also receive the Ministry of Social Affairs, which is considered important, and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, and the party will put someone forward as Minister for Housing.
At Foreign Affairs, the CDA minister will be joined by a VVD member as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation: MEP Liesje Schreinemacher. If she does the most obvious thing for a VVD member, to focus primarily on trade and less on aid, this could pose a risk to the CDA and ChristenUnie – among their supporters, that aid is considered very important.
In addition to the premiership, the VVD will also receive the Ministry of Justice: here comes Dilan Yeşilgöz, now State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate. Justice is a heavy ministry, and risky. Justice ministers quickly get involved in affairs over which they have little control, and the risk of premature resignation is relatively high.
There will also be a VVD minister for primary and secondary education: Dennis Wiersma, now State Secretary for Social Affairs. And just like in the previous cabinet, a VVD member will become minister for long-term care and sport: health care director Conny Helder.
Member of Parliament Mark Harbers becomes Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management and Member of Parliament Micky Adriaansens becomes Minister of Economic Affairs. The VVD will also have its own Minister for Agriculture, although it is a position ‘for’ and not ‘from’ Nature and Nitrogen: Christianne van der Wal, currently party chairman.
Minister before less important
Ministers ‘for’ are seen as less important in The Hague: they do not have their own budget. But if the portfolio itself is heavy enough, such as nitrogen and primary and secondary education, that difference often disappears in practice.
That must also have been the thought of the ChristenUnie, where Carola Schouten will become the Minister for Poverty Policy, at the Ministry of Social Affairs (in addition to a CDA ‘van’ minister). She will have to derive her authority in cabinet from her deputy premiership. She is also always in that position at the most important meetings of the cabinet.
Also read our reconstruction: Doubts about D66, ‘bad cop’ Remkes and the muffins remained; this is how Rutte IV came about
The ChristenUnie will have its own Minister of Agriculture again: deputy Henk Staghouwer (59) from Groningen. Although that will be a considerably less burdensome ministry now that a VVD minister is added for Nature and Nitrogen. And the CU will once again have a state secretary at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport: Maarten van Ooijen (31), currently alderman in Utrecht. His name has been around in the party for a while for a cabinet post. He is seen as a great talent and possibly even as a successor to party leader Gert-Jan Segers. At VWS, Van Ooijen takes the place of Paul Blokhuis, who was also a former alderman in Apeldoorn, and would have liked to continue in the cabinet.
From next Monday, Rutte will receive the upcoming ministers as a formateur. The so-called ‘constitutive meeting’, in which the ministers still make agreements about the division of tasks, is scheduled for next Saturday. The swearing in of the ministers and the platform scene will then be on Monday 10 January, just under ten months after the elections to the House of Representatives.
This post was updated on Thursday evening, with the final names of the CU and VVD ministers
A version of this article also appeared in NRC Handelsblad on 31 December 2021
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of December 31, 2021
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