When Theo Hidema (78) rescinded his membership in Parliament in the winter of 2020, MP Khadija Arib (62) of the PvdA party read his letter as Speaker, explaining the reasons for his departure. Contrary to all custom, Theo opened the letter with “Dear Khadija”, which apparently moved the then-chamber of the room. The whole country watched as she read the rest with a lump in her throat.

silly

The fact that the two maintain a warm relationship is also evident from Theo’s biography, in which he describes a very pleasant evening, when they had a drink at home together and ordered large portions of food together. The bond between them will always be good, and Theo is very angry about what is happening to Khadija. After all, she rescinded her House membership after she was anonymously accused of misconduct during her tenure as Speaker of the House, from 2016 to 2021. Has he spoken to her yet? ‘I sent her a letter to wish her well,’ Theo tells the story. “It is, of course, a completely ridiculous case.”

Romanticize

Many people will remember the warm way Theo and Khadija spoke to each other when he left the House. There even seemed to be a frequent flirtation between the two! This has led many to suspect that there was more going on between them, in part because Theo is a widower and Khadija is divorced. How was that? “We had a good relationship with each other,” Theo continues the story. She tolerated me well and she is. You don’t have to romanticize it too much, but you have to be made of stone to ignore its charms.