After a turbulent week at Binnenhof, peace has now returned. The controversial proposal on the refugee reception distribution law put forward by VVD leader Dylan Jeselgoz has been watered down, but it has put relations in the outgoing government on the brink.
With a new right-wing majority in the council, different winds are blowing in the Binnenhof, Jesselgoz showed this week.
On Wednesday evening, while discussing the election results, she suddenly put forward a motion calling on the outgoing government and the Senate to “take some time with the dispersal law.”
This led to a huge uproar in the House of Representatives and in the outgoing government. A clash arose between the parties of the old coalition and the new coalition that is on the way. PVV, NSC and BBB signed Yesilgöz’s proposal. D66, CDA, and ChristenUnie all looked on in amazement.
“We all have to act a little more normal.”
The matter had to be discussed in the Council of Ministers on Friday morning – although the proposal was watered down – because the complaints of a number of ministers were evident.
Minister and D66 leader Rob Gitten said before the meeting that as long as the outgoing Cabinet looked after shop, “we all have to act a little bit normal”. CDA Minister Hugo de Jonge described this week’s events as “constitutional monkey cages”.
“I did not think it was very elegant towards Eric van der Burgh,” CU Minister Pete Adema stood on behalf of the outgoing State Minister on the VVD Council. Van der Burgh is responsible for the reception of refugees and works hard to provide adequate reception spaces.
De spreidingswet in het kort
- De spreidingswet moet de asielopvang beter over Nederland verdelen.
- Het gaat niet om de huisvesting van statushouders, maar om reguliere asielzoekerscentra.
- Op dit moment zijn er veel gemeenten die geen asielzoekers opvangen.
- De Eerste Kamer heeft de wet niet controversieel verklaard en de behandeling staat voor januari met potlood in de agenda.
Angel was taken out on Thursday
Apart from the call to the Cabinet, the proposal also includes an appeal to the Senate. The distribution law currently exists, after it was approved by the old House of Representatives early last October.
The outgoing government had no choice but to advise against the proposal the same evening. “The Senate is interested in its own agenda,” outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote in a letter on Wednesday evening. He stressed that the Council of Ministers supports the law.
After all this uproar, the right-wing parties decided to water down the proposal the next day. Both the appeal to the Cabinet and the appeal to the Senate were cancelled. This took the sting.
Where is Van der Burgh located?
However, things still need to calm down on Friday. Van der Burgh himself was not present at the cabinet meeting. According to a spokesperson, there were no items on the agenda for him. The VVD member was also not present at the election of the new Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Like Yeseljos, Van der Burgh is currently part of the outgoing government and a member of parliament. This also applies to Cetin and a handful of other ministers. This is often the case in the period following the House of Representatives elections and until the formation of the new government.
You have created a very confusing situation. As a Member of Parliament, Yesilgoz submitted an appeal motion to the outgoing government, of which she herself was a member. Moreover, it was a matter of law that Van der Burgh was keen to uphold in his role as Secretary of State.
You hear in the corridors that Van der Burgh, to put it mildly, was not happy with the Yeseljos move. The Minister of State has not yet responded officially. Other VVD ministers, who were asked on Friday morning about the atmosphere within the party, denied the existence of friction.
After the cabinet meeting, the ministers kept their ranks closed. Outgoing ministers Carola Schouten (CU) and Sigrid Kaag (D66) stressed once again that the Cabinet supports the Dispersal Law.
For now, the cold seems to have gone, but relations in the outgoing government will not improve.
2:40Chaos in the chamber after the VVD’s proposal on the distribution law: “There is no forum”
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