Rose Cantine

Thanks to the controversy over Minister of Immigration Rita Verdonk’s treatment of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the prime minister of the Netherlands tendered the cabinet’s resignation today. The coalition (Democrats 66 (D66), the Christian Democrats and the VVD) felt apart after D66 decided they’d had it with Verdonk.

How did this happen? A couple of days ago, the Minister of Immigration, Rita Verdonk, revealed in parliament that she had forced Ayaan Hirsi Ali to sign a declaration saying that she had wrongfully filled out her application for refugee status (a minor mistake on the part of Ayaan regarding her name). In exchange for the declaration, Minister Verdonk promised Hirsi Ali that she would not lose her citizenship. Everyone considered this to be a form of duress imposed upon Hirsi Ali. The episode is just the last straw for this cabinet, putting up with Rita Verdonk’s political posturing and anti-immigration stand which unfortunately has made her very popular among voters. Verdonk has been called so many times to parliament to explain herself and in most cases, she made serious errors in pursuing her policies. D66 had enough and told their coalition partners that they’re not putting up with her anymore (note: Verdonk is a member of the VVD, one of the “right wing” parties; the other right wing party is the Christian Democrats - together with D66, they form the coalition). The opposition parties - the Labour Party (PvDA), the Greens and the Socialist Party - are thrilled because it could mean new elections.

What next? Believe it or not, the Queen is actually involved in all this. She has to consult with the first and second chambers of parliament and the Counsel of State (Raad van State), and decide what to do. If she decides to have this lame duck cabinet continue, she has to call for new elections. If she decides to have a demissionary cabinet (i.e. one that can no longer set policy), elections must be held between 40 and 83 days after her decision.

See the BBC’s report here and the Financial Times here.

Rita Verdonk has exploited people’s fears over immigrants, the shaky economy, globalization, Islam and just about everything else that does not look like the world as it existed in 1965. That she is the most popular politician is shameful enough, but that this coalition has put up with her for this long is even worse.

Cruijff blames Verdonk for Dutch World Cup catastrophe

Johan Cruijff, one of the best football players ever and frequent football commentator, blamed Rita Verdonk for the Dutch team’s lousy performance. Cruijff says that Verdonk’s failure to expedite the approval of Salomon Kalou’s citizenship application in time for the World Cup, caused the team to miss out on a very valuable player. We will see how this plays out in the coming elections.