Dutch Elections
Wouter Bos (left) and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (right)
For those who are interested in the Dutch elections: we’re on fire here as well. Our elections are not just for a couple of seats, but for all seats and about our entire government coalition. Our current coalition is one between the CDA and the VVD (my party).
The polls show that the race between the largest opposition party PvdA (42 seats now) and the CDA, is too close to call. Of course the debates between the leaders of the different parties have the potential to make a big difference.
RTL 4 organized a very limited debate: strictly between the leader of the PvdA and the leader of the CDA (Wouter Bos and current PM Jan Peter Balkenende).
The results? Again extremely close. 50% of the viewers is of the opinion that Bos won, 46% says that, in their eyes, Balkenende was the (undisputed) winner.
However, something quite important: 19% of those who planned to vote for our Socialist Party (SP) before this debate now say that they plan on voting for the PvdA. That is an important development. Too bad for the SP of course, but incredibly good news for the PvdA: it has to get its voters from the left.
In the end, it seems very likely that the PvdA and CDA will form our new coalition. This means that our country will go backwards the coming years, but if that’s what the voters want, sadly so be it.
The VVD and CDA worked for years on trying to modernize our country and our economy. It is finally beginning to pay off (although there is still a lot of work left) and now the PvdA will most likely come in and destroy every progress made.
18 Responses to “Dutch Elections”
Michael, I spent time hanging out at the coffeeshops and soaking up Dutch culture back in the Reagan years.
I’m sorry you feel your country is going backwards. Even that being the case you guys are still light years ahead of us in the realm of simple human respect and decency.
Be glad for that.
Well, of course I am glad about things like how to act, how to treat each other. However, the problem with the PvdA in power (well, one of the problems) is that they will return every progress the CDA and VVD have made regarding our economy. In the US it is fairly easy to start a business of one’s own, it was virtually impossible to do it here due to all kinds of rules, almost a policy of discouraging entrepreneurship. That has slowly changed and the VVD and CDA have more plans to encourage entrepreneurship.
With the PvdA in power, we can forget about that and our economy will become its usual not-progressing, non-innovative self.
btw: do you guys enjoy reading up on stuff like this every now and then, or couldn’t y’all care less about, for instance, the netherlands?
I care, having been there. I would guess my fellow Americans and canucks would find it mildly interesting.
I come here for a broad overview, so in that vain, I think the occasional update is quite valuable.
Sometimes the best way to look in the mirror is to compare and contrast different cultures and regions.
MvdG–
I’m getting the idea that you can’t wait to vote!!
BYG: lol -> you should make that your personal motto ™.
Indeed, I am looking forward to it. Just today I brought the party plans to people in my neighborhood. It is something like a small newspaper from the VVD with the ‘plan’ in it from the VVD: what the VVD wants to do, what one is voting for if one votes VVD.
That’s of course purely voluntarily, but perhaps this way I may make someone vote VVD.
Yes that is true.
Today I had a good laugh: RTL 4 also has a clip up with parts of the debate. In it they said “Bos attacked the CDA” and later “but Balkenende attacked Bos as well”. Why did I laugh? Because I am seeing more of how things are handled in America and the way our politicians debate or the political culture as such, is not in any way best described as ‘attacking’. Americans would most likely call it (mild) fair criticism.
Good to know Snark.
lol – there is more to our country than marijuana snark
how did you like the Netherlands by the way? What did you think of it?
Loved it all. If I could afford it, I would live there.
It was hashish back then. You couldn’t really get good pot back then. Todays scene is at a whole other level, we were pioneers in those days. I don’t know if you knew I was a soldier in Germany in the early eighties.
We used to catch a train out of Munich non stop.
Pretty much a beer party all the way there.
I do think I remember a few windmills. And I fell in a Kanal once. And I do seem to vaugly recall this weird place were half naked hotties hung out behind plate glass windows.
Snark, good to know that you had good times here.
lol, sounds like fun man. Did you enjoy Germany as well, or was it: going to Amsterdam whenever you guys could?;)
That’s a great compliment for the Netherlands. Thanks Snark.
Yes, Germany was charming in an invade France kind of way.
We probably took the express train about once a month.
Snark. Seriously. I don’t think you’re helping improving our image here…
MvdG,
I find it interesting. I honestly think that our system isn’t necessarily the best when it comes to how to run a republic. Certainly recent events haven’t given me any encouragement as to how well our system is working. I mean, since I don’t agree with a lot of of what Mr. Bush believes have you heard the kind of things he’s been saying about me and the people who agree with me?
Ok, I’ll volunteer to try to improve the image of the Netherlands, but I haven’t got much experience to go on.
I spent only about 24-36 hours in the Netherlands, and it was at the very end of a 17 day European tour, so I was not as into it that day as I could have wished. We drove from Bruselles towards Amsterdam and stayed I have no idea where overnight, then drove into Amsterdam the next day.
I have to say that it was worth it, if nothing else, just for the scenery during the drive. It was truly beautiful. I think we must have been driving through dairy-producing regions. The land was very, very green and reasonably flat, but very gently rolling. I don’t recall seeing any windmills, but I do remember how very green everything was. (This would have been at the end of May or beginning of June, 1990) I don’t know that I took any pictures out of the bus window, but I can still see it in my head.
I don’t remember a lot about Amsterdam. I was kind of burnt-out after seventeen days in a tour bus, and I was only there for about half a day. I thought about visiting an art museum, but decided that I really wasn’t up to it, so I just spent the time wandering around and enjoying the scenery (and getting something to eat.) I remember the streets and buildings being clean and attractive. If I’m remembering correctly, central Amsterdam reminded me a lot of central Copenhagen, except that the architecture was Dutch. (Well, duh, of course the architecture was Dutch.) I just did a quick image search on Google, and I am remembering correctly, but Copenhagen doesn’t have anywhere near the number of waterways flowing through it as Amsterdam does.
Amsterdam was a lovely city, and I would enjoy going back. Unlike Snark, I don’t think I would choose to settle down there, but that has a lot more to do with me having a very strong emotional attachment to Copenhagen and the surrounding area all the way out to Roskilde than with not liking Amsterdam or the surrounding countryside. If I wanted to emigrate, I would choose Copenhagen (or something within commuting distance since Copenhagen has the only Russian Orthodox Church in the entire country) — if cost were not an issue, but Copenhagen is something like the world’s 6th most expensive city to live in, so that’s not going to happen. If I ever got the chance to live in the Netherlands, well, that would be really neat, although it’s unlikely to happen. I’d have an incredibly fun time learning Dutch. I’ve wanted to ever since learning Danish, but the opportunity has never presented itself.
Well, now that I’ve devoted way too much time to reminicing about how much I loved Europe…
In response to your question, Michael, I do enjoy hearing about Dutch politics. However, it would be helpful for me if you were to provide more background. Unfortunately, I have never been particularly familiar with more than the general idea of how a parlimentary government works. I know that the election process is substantially different than our own, but I don’t know in what ways. I could also do with a bit more background on the various political parties. How many have you got in the parliment? What sort of platforms do they hold? Which of them are able to work together with each other?
When I was in Denmark, I was never really able to comprehend Danish politics. Some of that had to do with my primary focus at the time being on mastering the Danish language. (In all seriousness, I knew no more than about half a dozen words in Danish before I arrived in the country.) But some of my difficulty with Danish politics had to do with the fact that there were 15 different parties with seats in the Folketing, and I have no idea how many others existed which hadn’t received enough votes to get a seat.
I’ve always thought that 15 parties was rather excessive, but I really think that we’d be better off here if we had 4-6 parties with seats in congress. (We’ve got all sorts of interesting parties over here, but only two of them matter politically.) Unfortunately, our government doesn’t seem set up in such a way as to have more than two viable parties.
Isidora: thanks for that lengthy comment about the Netherlands. You are, by the way, right in comparing the Netherlands to Denmark and Copenhagen to Amsterdam: the two countries are quite similar. When a Dutch person says he or she is going to Denmark for vacation, the most common reply is “why? it’s just like home…”.
After reading your description I can say that, mostly, it has not changed -> 87.5% of our country still is ‘unbuild’. It’s mostly flat, but indeed very, very green. You’re driving through a green country with a city every now and then in essence.
It’s a pity that no one seems to ever have visited my province: Friesland. It is one of the most beautiful provinces of the Netherlands. Very green, very picturesque and lots of lakes (watersport is quite a big thing here).
As for your second comment: I will put some information in future posts about Dutch politics but I also have to say… I know about American politics by simply reading up on it.
Get my drift?
I do get your drift. I hadn’t thought of looking for such information before, since I didn’t think that there would be enough available in English. I should never assume anything, especially in the age of Wikipedia. (There’s an old saying/wordplay that “assume makes an ass of you and me.” So…now I feel like a bit of an ass.) Anyway, it looks like there is more than enough information in English to get started with. I shall…in my copious free time
It occurs to me that, since there does seem to be a good deal of information on Dutch politics available online in English, you could simply embed a link to the appropriate information to make it easy for those who would like more background.
I think it’s funny that I was not mistaken about the similarity between Amsterdam and Copenhagen and that I caught it so quickly. By that time, I was very familiar with central Copenhagen, but I only had half a day in Amsterdam.
As for Dutch people visiting Denmark, Copenhagen does have some rather unique buildings, such as Vor Frelsers Kirke. I think I may have to expand the Wikipedia article on it, since I know a lot more off the top of my head than is contained in the article. Climbing the copper and gilt spire provides, in my opinion, the best view of Copenhagen. But the catch is that the staircase winds around the outside of the spire, getting narrower as it goes, until the the very top step is only wide enough to place one foot on and rather shallow. It’s very cool. The inside is really nice, too, with gilt stars studding the ceiling. I believe that they give regular organ concerts in the church. The Round Tower is rather unique. No steps inside; you ascend by a wide spiral ramp. There’s an observatory at the top and a museum with changing exhibits. Not much of a view from it, though; it’s not really that tall. Copenhagen’s got a lot to recommend it, including some interesting museums. But, no, it’s not a very exotic holiday destination for a Netherlander.
Well, if I get the chance, I’ll try to visit Friesland, since you recommend it so highly. Do you happen to speak Friesian, in addition to Dutch? I had an interesting experience the other day. Andrew Sullivan embedded a YouYube of Submission in honor of the second anniversary of Theo van Gogh’s murder. I had never seen the film. It was very well-made and very moving. It was also mostly in English with Dutch subtitles. I hadn’t expected that. I also hadn’t expected to be able to correlate a good 50% or more of the Dutch words with their meanings — sometimes even during the Arabic prayers. I gotta learn Dutch someday.
Isidora, Denmark and the Netherlands are very much alike.
The people [tall and blond], the language and the country.
I think that’s the reason people often get the two mixed up.
That and the fact that we – in Holland/Netherlands – speak Dutch. You know, starting with the D of Denmark.
I’d love to be a Dane, though.
They have more guts. [like during WWII]
As for the elections:
50% of the voters – who haven’t decided yet – don’t want neither Balkenende, nor Bos.
They want a leader who will stop the Islamisation of the Netherlands.
Since both Bos and Balkenende are carefully quiet about this subject [muslim votes!] it may come as a big surprise for both of them to see the remaining 50% of voters going for Wilders or the other right-wing party, NLeen.
Not because the people in the Netherlands have suddenly turned conservative, but because we’re fed up with that xenofobic, homofobic, anti-semitic and female oppressing religion.