Verdonk: Her misplaced pride

A sailor on dry land

A few weeks ago, I was on the tram from my neighbourhood to the Central Station when I saw a big poster set up at the Amsterdam Passenger’s Terminal showing a lady dressed up as a clean looking tar with hands on ship wheel.

The text on the poster was Trots op Netherland, which means “Proud of the Netherlands”, the lady in the poster was Mrs. Rita Verdonk who until last year was the Minister of Immigration and Integration till her actions brought down the government.

Lady Oddjob’s pride

In my blogs about her, I referred to her as Lady Oddjob and this was derived from the time when she decided to throw her hat in the ring to contest the leadership of her party (VVD) then, she persona and firebrand populism drew impressions of the Oddjob character in a James Bond film decapitating people by throwing his hat like a Frisbee.

She did not win that leadership contest but at the general election she polled more votes than the party leader and tried to unseat the leadership by sleight.

Eventually, she became unmanageable within the party hierarchy and she got kicked out of the party, hence this new incarnation of Lady Oddjob as leader of Trots op Netherland.

No leader at all

I have always been of the view that Mrs. Verdonk might be a good minister but she has no leadership or even decent team-working abilities in politics, she held everyone to ransom and in the process destroyed her party’s ability to continue in coalition after the elections because they lost seats.

Trots op Netherland is no new dimension in Dutch politics, it has nothing to do with being proud of the Netherlands, and rather, it would serve as a refuge for nostalgic, bitter, disgruntled and ignorant Dutch citizens who have been left behind by the changing times.

It would be the gathering place for the populist use of flawed statistics, poorly reasoned logic about problems with the Netherlands and a catchment for those who inadvertently seek greater instability for the country they want to be more prosperous.

We have seen the rise and fall of the Lijst Pim Fortuyn and the advent of Geert Wilder’s band of patriots called the Party for Freedom.

Bitter people

It needs the articulate verbiage of Senator Obama to give voice the real issue here which as the truth is best not spoken, he might have been expressing a frustration in not being able to break into the working class communities around America when he said, “You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them, and it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations”.

Whether it was politically astute for Senator Obama to say that, say it in that way or try to rephrase it in some more digestible language, time will tell, but the is the truth as glaring as you will get it about populist parties and their causes.

The congregation of bitter people who cling to nostalgia, religion, guns, antipathy, anti-immigrant sentiment or some other so-called patriotic or nationalist cause in the name of taking back their country, which in fact, is taking their country back to the Dark Ages of economic stagnation, insularity and protectionism all of which would never yield good dividend in this global village we now inhabit.

Now, we live in a free country with the freedom to assemble for any cause we might be persuaded of, if the “bitter” people need a sort of representation in our political system, they are welcome to proselytise and they would find sympathisers, people who would lurk in the shadows providing substantial but clandestine support – democratic subversion, you might call it.

The proud are represented

I would contend that those who are really proud of the Netherlands have already spoken, they voted for the parties now in power who for all their foibles have more broad-based ideas for taking the Netherlands forward than saying anything that would panic people into running into the last refuge of the scoundrel – blind Patriotism. (Paraphrased from Samuel Johnson)

Verdonk disintegrates bill

Slow and sedentary politics

Dutch politics is based on a consensus, compromise and collaboration model simply called the Polder Model. This is understandable because it does take time, effort, negotiation, horse-trading and resources for rival forces to band together to create infrastructure to reclaim land from the sea, seeing that a third of what is the Netherlands land mass was once the sea.

The national elections took place on the 22^nd of November 2006 and we are just about to get a new cabinet; a coalition of the CDA (Christian Democrats), the PvDA (Labour Party) and Christian Unie (Christian Union), leaving us with a right-leaning government with a social bias.

Expect, abortion, prostitution, drugs, euthanasia and immigration to get a new looking at especially where certain right-wing politicians have carved a representation in the Dutch parliament, ready to cause upheaval and controversy on any issue to gain media prominence.

Disintegrating our peace again

Talking of immigration, Mrs. Rita Verdonk, got elected for the very first time and retained her ministerial portfolio as part of the out-going cabinet, however, within days of the new parliament being sworn in, Lady Oddjob who has done much to upset the applecart of Dutch politics was relieved of the immigration part of her Integration and Immigration ministry as a sop to the parliament.

In my mind she has been more about disintegration and emigration, but despite all attempts to censure her for activities inimical to societal cohesion, these have failed and rather brought Jan-Pieter Balkenende's cabinet down to its knees leading to a fall of the government and an election, all in the name of keeping the polder together, the Dutch way - other democracies would have summarily sacked her to save the government their blushes.

Anyway, a bill Mrs. Verdonk had submitted to parliament for consideration in her ministerial capacity as one of the last acts of this cabinet had suffered extensive amendments that it did not look like what the strict matron ordered. The story.

After intemperate language and high jinx, rather than have the bill voted on, she created enough discomfort in parliament as she tried to withdraw the bill and then all settled for not voting on it all.

Not really as the Dutch intended

Living in the Netherlands, there are quite a number things I have to adjust to, one of which is, people can express an opinion but must not obstinately stand their ground regardless of the rightness of their views, it is considered disruptive.

What is then termed tolerance becomes a situation where your view is noted and if not acted upon, you allow things to happen.

Some politicians are deviating from this Dutch norm; the premise of the Polder Model is attacked with extreme pronouncements and controversial positions which portend to celebrate the adherence to rules. Mrs. Verdonk comes to the fore on this, just as much as Geert Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali who is now resident in the United States.

So, the parliamentarians resolved this debate by first trying to stop the bickering and then passing the bill on to the next cabinet to consider.

As one Member of Parliament said, of Verdonk, "Everything she does is one big power play. When she used the term "unacceptable," we had no desire to continue with the game any longer."

The power plays would not end here when she reverts to an ordinary member of the parliament, she would still be gunning for the leadership of the Illiberal Party (VVD) and making waves to topple Balkenende's fourth cabinet in as many years.

If I had tears to shed, they would be for those whose lives have been dehumanized by the mechanistic adherence to immigration rules to the detriment of humane consideration of their circumstances.

It is not Good Riddance, but Good Bye and thanks for your service to the country; hopefully, there would be no other opportunity to require your services again.

References

The Verdonk Blog trail

The Lady Oddjob Blog trail

Lady Oddjob is now at odds

Populist but dangerously at odds

They finally had the bottle to do it and rightly so. Lady Oddjob has had her hat thrown at her and she has been decapitated – well not literally.

Readers of my blog would think I have had it in for Mrs. Verdonk for all her populist policies on integration and immigration, which display an overarching toughness but belie a seething illiberal xenophobia that is gaining acceptance amongst the Dutch.

She has on 5 occasions been called to the Dutch Parliament to explain her actions but there was always a détente, a hesitation, and an almost there that there were never enough votes to sanction her.

But Mrs. Verdonk has been no end of trouble for her party and the cabinet in which her party help a minor coalition participation, part of which lead to the fall of the cabinet in the middle of the year.

Popular but unliked

Whilst she did garner more votes than her party leader, in general, she was not aligned to the Dutch way of doing things in government, the parliament now stung or refreshed by the elections of November 22 have now successfully passed a motion of no confidence on her.

The kind of brinkmanship where the Prime Minister just detached himself from responding to the displeasure of parliament had reached a point where there were just enough votes this time to get it over and done with.

She obviously has been unable to take the hint that she is the issue and even if she is not, other people in office with any iota of integrity and self-respect would have stepped-down.

Not Mrs. Verdonk, she would tough it out, like she has always done, till it becomes untenable for the team in which she is a junior member to maintain any credibility. She is a blind Samson who is ready to bring down the temple on herself but taking all the worshippers down too in her suicide mission.

The cabinet which is for now in caretaker mode should now just sacrifice the lady for the stability of governance rather than chuck it all in as they are wont to do in general.

Popular party of one?

Mrs. Verdonk is a junior minister, the indictment is against her intransigence and obstinate demeanour that gets its lifeblood from the Zombie-ist – Rules are the rules – mantra.

We might finally get a minister that would handle the portfolio of Integration and Immigration with a humane perspective because for all her strengths, she worked to disintegrate and make others emigrate.

She might just end up starting her own party, though it is unlikely that she would do anymore harm to the government that what has been done to this comatose cabinet in life-support.

I am beginning to have faith in the Dutch Parliament and it is high time.

References

The Lady Oddjob Blog Trail

The Verdonk Blog Trail

Verdonk in leadership slam dunk - Update

Goats in, Votes out

After the Dutch elections last week, I am still gob smacked about how the results have turned out. The ruling party (Christian Democratic Appeal - CDA) with its burgher, lack-lustre, dour leader who at times appears in need of a radical charismatic lobotomy after his anti-Harry Potter makeover, lead the team to another electoral victory.

He would now have a fourth bite at the cherry in 4 years, even the Dutch should be getting election weary.

Victory, in the sense that they won more seats in the Second Chamber, but 76 are needed to have a majority government, they got 41 losing 3 seats from the last time and needing 35 to form a majority government.

The opposition Labour Party got 33 losing 9 seats; the Socialist Party increased their share from 9 to 25 and the Liberal Party (VVD), the party of the Minister of dis-Integration and Emigration – Mrs Rita Verdonk, lost 4 seats to end up being the fourth party with 22 seats.

A Dutch coalition of pain

The old coalition of CDA, VVD and D66 would only garner 66 seats; however, it is unlikely that D66 would play having lost half their seats nor would they be seen in cahoots with Verdonk the cause of the fall of the last government.

The salutary lesson of this election is, people want more of the same with a lean to the left, then a bit of tough talk on those immigration and religious issues espoused by Geert Wilders whose locks once looked like a permanent lawyer’s wig. His new party of tough-talking intolerance pulled in 9 seats but he is too much of a firebrand to be called into a coalition – he was once in the Liberal Party – methinks we are in the death throes of liberalism in the Netherlands since the standard bearers of that ideology have lost electoral ground.

There is no doubt that a good few people would like to see Mrs Rita Verdonk sacked and pensioned off into obscurity, but not that easily.

She is back – again!

In 10 minutes, I heard the number 620,555 from her lips just as many times, the number of votes polled by Mrs Verdonk as number 2 in the VVD Party list which by circumstance happens to exceed the leader’s number by 50,000 votes. A precedent, they say.

Early on Tuesday, she said she would not challenge for the leadership of the party, having 4 months ago clearly lost the vote of the VVD party for the leadership, well, this evening she is back in a surreptitious and outrageous power grab for the leadership.

First by saying the people have spoken, she is probably more popular than the leader of her party, however, she would not challenge for the leadership of the party.

Rather, a commission should be set up to review this unique situation, and meanwhile, she is loyal to the party and to the leadership of Matt Rutte.

Rotten politics

If I have ever heard a fork-tongued, double-speak, back-stabbing, political about-face of the most slithering snake of treasonable political Brutus-tricks, Mrs Verdonk personifies the side of politics that would make you puke your toes from the inside – the moniker of Lady Oddjob now really fits.

There are rules for the election of a party leader and that is not decided by a general election, but by party membership, the leader only had 3 months to prepare for the elections, Mrs Verdonk has hugged the headlines for years with her tough stance on immigration and she neither won it within her party nor did she win it for her party.

If the VVD has a liability, it would be her, but like we have with the Weakest Link, the party members may not see through this political travesty of honour and integrity.

For a person who being unelected caused the fall of a government to now want to reap the fruits of democratic ascendancy, shows that she has all ambition and has little to show in political maturity or leadership – it would be not surprise me if like the List Pim Fortuyn, her leadership of the VVD leads the party to political obscurity through in-fighting and rancour – some lessons do have to be learnt the hard way and the Liberal Party looks like a ready and willing student.

Update – 29/11/2006

Having not been able to persuade the party hierarchy to establish an unnecessary commission, to examine the unique situation of the party leader polling less than the next person in the party list; Mrs. Verdonk has now pledged allegiance to the party and thrown her weight behind the party leader respecting the decision of the party to retain Mark Rutte and the leader of the Liberal Party (VVD).

References

The Verdonk Blog Trail

The Lady Oddjob Blog Trail

Politicking with straight talk

Scrawny politicians

Sometimes, I think Dutch politicians, especially those who have had the providence of patronage to become ministers are such touchy people who assume airs and have delusions of grandeur.

They are so quick to take offence, go to court and make so much about they possibly questionable honour, integrity and definite lack of charisma.

The Prime Minister for example has been to court at least four times for situations where he has been parodied as a porn star or a person snatching a feeder from a baby – we cannot explore satire, talk less ridicule without some cellophane skinned lion heart boo-hooing back to mummy.

Needing a reality check

These people really need to be brought back down to earth, they are no demigods of any particular status, nor are they any more special than the man in the street, the opportunity to serve the people is becoming the opportunity to play feudal lord over others – it is patently un-Dutch and nowhere near the egalitarian society we are supposed to espouse.

So, one of the so many stuck-up ministers comes to the rescue of an even more stuck-up minister – my blog favourite Mrs. Verdonk or Lady Oddjob as she is known as on my blog.

She happened to find herself in a situation where she was accused of taking political advantage of the murder of the film producer Theo van Gogh – well, they all did and anyone who says they did not is a bare-faced liar.

Then someone else suggested the deportation of failed asylum seekers as akin to Nazi war crimes – now, I would be hurt if anyone said my actions could be compared to the Nazis.

An apologist seeks an apology

However, this is how it pans out, Mrs Verdonk is demanding an apology for the politicking allegation but none for the Nazi smear.

Let s look at that again, the politicking allegation can from an alderman, an elected council official, but the Nazi jibe came from a member of parliament.

The Member of Parliament is absolved because of her status for the alderman is supposedly infra dignitatem – the cheek of it all.

It goes without saying that the alderman – Ahmed Aboutaleb is probably one of the best integrated Muslims in the Netherlands; well educated with sharp and commonsense opinions – that obviously cannot be the reason why he is under fire.

What is annoying is the fact that the Dutch are known to be straight talkers, but it appears some people only allow straight talking if they can talk down to people but we all should hands behind our backs, heads bowed step backwards mouthing ‘Yes ma’am.

Lady Oddjob takes no responsibility

Ministerial culpability

My silence regarding about Lady Oddjob has been shattered to smithereens as news arrives about a situation to which she should have responded, but she has ended up being affected by her inaction.

Last November, an arsonist imprisoned illegal immigrant set fire to his confinements leading to a big fire which apparently the security staff ignored assuming a recurrent altercation leading to the deaths of 11 inmates.

Long before the inquiry had been launched both the Justice Minister (Donner) and the Minister for Integration and Immigration (Mrs Verdonk [Lady Oddjob]) commended the staff of the detention centre for having done all in their power to contain the situation and save life. Covered in Dancing on their warm graves.

At a point, the Major of the locality decided to revoke the certificate of safety and worthiness of that building in order to compel the Justice Minister to assign a safer building for the function of immigrant detention centre; he was overruled with an extraordinary constitutional stature invoked by the Justice Minister.

Ministerial inertia

When an independent inquiry and investigator was appointed, he extracted a promise out of Mrs Verdonk’s ministry to keep the survivors in the Netherlands for at least the duration of the inquiry, unfortunately, some of those witnesses were shipped out of the country before he had adequate access to them, this left the inquiry a bit hamstrung and the investigator quite miffed that he went to the press.

Eventually, in an act of unusual kindness, the remaining survivors were granted leave to stay in the country and the arsonist charged for fire-raising amongst other offences.

Now, another inquiry run by the Dutch Safety Council has released its report on this fateful event with a scathing indictment of the government for not adhering to planning and safety rules, rules which would have limited or prevented the deaths of 11 hapless illegal immigrants.

Ministerial responsibility

Somehow, after the report, the Justice and Housing Ministers felt their positions were untenable, took responsibility for the failings and resigned, so did the Mayor of the locality whose officials had issued the safety permits which he tried to revoke after the event.

Mrs Verdonk whose hard-line immigrant policies makes her the most popular Dutch politician who could be found in the middle of the most embarrassing, scandalous and inhumane policies on immigration exemplified in the revocation and reinstatement of Hirsi Ayaan Ali’s Dutch citizenship and the collapse of the Balkenende II government having refused to resign for her actions, takes the spoils by becoming the Minister for Justice for two months before the elections.

We can safely assume that Mrs Verdonk would never take responsibility for any actions that have taken place under her watch.

What makes this more concerning is that she as Minister of Justice might end up receiving the report that lead to the resignation of her boss, then presiding over the means to respond to its recommendations, a situation from which she must recuse herself having not had the honourable integrity to resign in the wake of a report that from my judgement embroils her in ministerial culpability.

In the end, it appears there is no amount of damage this woman can bring to Dutch politics that can make her responsible for anything such that she can honourably resign, if the polls or political cowardice on the part of Minister-President Jan-Pieter Balkenende are responsible for this; November should give us the fresh air of bolder initiatives from a new government.

The Cacophony of Rules vs The Silence of the Indifferent

We love the Netherlands

It probably has not dawned on my readership why my obsession with Lady Oddjob the Minister for Integration and Immigration or rather appropriately, of disintegration and emigration has been vociferous and bordering on the vituperative and virulent.

I now think I can put together a general context that depicts Dutch officialdom; but also affects immigrants and expatriates alike.

First, we non-indigenes come to the for many reasons, we bring with us, our culture, heritage, values and outlook to life which we have to intertwine and weave into the fabric of the host society as we adapt and integrate.

Some are better at integrating than others, most especially the younger ones in terms of language learning and relationships building.

There probably is a tendency for those who can, of right, live in the without application to vegetate to their expatriate communities if they encounter the slightest difficulty in the language and relationships building or social area. It is however, not for the want of trying.

In general, we love this place, we love the people, they have a varied and vibrant history and that is why we came here and live here. I make my home in the , happily, joyfully and fulfillingly.

Amsterdam is not Dutch Society

The tourist view the Netherlands usually extrapolated from the experiences in Amsterdam which is hardly the typical Dutch mien, when you come to settle, it is a whole new set of rules; you hit officialdom and are let utterly exasperated at the lethargy, disinterest, indifference and nonchalance of people who come to work to be seen and not necessarily to serve – you will eventually get attention, however, by then, you are at your wits end.

Digging up history to support a generalisation could be a bit unfair, but they do not necessarily have their roots in falsehood, a pattern and mode of life has been astutely observed over time to arrive at those conclusions that urban legends then tend to perpetrate.

Agreement through silence and acquiescence

Suffice it to say that indifference, collaboration, adherence and personal interest, first with officialdom that followed the rules and the populace which accepted that guidance, lead to the Netherlands losing 75% of their Jewish population to the Holocaust.[1][2][3]

Only a few years ago, we were overcome with the angst about whether Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who journaled her time in hiding was the greatest Dutch person or an immigrant who just happened to be in the [4]. Yet, a tourist’s visit to Amsterdam is probably not complete without a visit to Anne Frank’s House.

So, Mrs Verdonk’s assertion that she is only following the rules as she sees them has historical precedence in the fact that her campaign slogan had the hallmarks stemming from one used by an ultra right-wing party and also from the perception in times past that the Nazi interpretation of the rules was the accepted and valid interpretation. [5][6]

Indifference is lethal

As she threw her hat into the ring for the leadership of the Liberal Party, it was important to remember the words of The Reverend Martin Niemöller, who clearly expressed how indifference can come back to haunt you in a very harrowing way, and this is what he said of the Nazis.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out

because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out

because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the labor leaders, and I did not speak out

because I was not a labor leader.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one

left to speak out for me.

The Reverend Martin Niemöller

A lot is happening in the world today, that has people who can speak up adopting the “does not affect me” stance, I do wonder who would be left to speak up for them.

I, as both a British and European citizen do not have to be concerned about the way asylum seekers and immigrant non-European Union citizens are treated by the authorities and the hubris of the minister – I have inalienable European rights, but when you see language bans, forced contraception and people’s lives messed about for political point-scoring, one had better speak up now, because each new attack is an erosion of the whole body of rights in humanity that we possess and cherish.

Poor judgement for opportunism

This informs the situation where Mrs Verdonk’s actions in the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali ended the political career of two very popular women in Dutch politics – the one of Hirsi Ali and hers. [6]

In what she did, she exuded that part of Dutch ambivalence that would make your skin creep, we immigrants sometimes do wonder if we can every fully understand what the Dutch regard as norms. As integrated as Hirsi Ali was, her undoing was that she did not adopt the “Live and let live” complacency to a the serious problem of Islamic dehumanisation of womanhood, she talked and talked out loud – that is not a Dutch norm – not at all.

Whose kind of immigrant?

So, the question remains what kind of immigrant does the want?

In what is looking like the mentality that traded Manhatten for we have three clear cases this year that show that Mrs Verdonk’s lack of judgement and perception is a handicap to any claim to leadership.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali might not have been the most loved or lovable immigrant/politician in the but she had one of the highest profiles, she is both well educated, successful and feted generously by the international community. She was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2006. Now deprived of her elected membership of the Second Chamber and Dutch citizenship, she is emigrating to the to take up a post with the American Enterprise Institute – with or without a Dutch passport.

Salomon Kalou, a very talented footballer from the Ivory Coast whose brother is going to the World Cup for the home country as captain, was recognised in spite of the 16 million eligible Dutch and probably 1000 qualified footballers, this immigrant was consider a valuable and probable asset to the Dutch dreams of football glory.

Against the better judgement of professionals where we know for a fact that people who can bring talent to the Netherlands can be fast-tracked to citizenship, his application was thwarted in a public spat that leaves much to be desired. [7]

This young man readily had a space in the Ivory Coast team to play in the world cup, but opted for the cold north in the where his application was messed around that it was too late for him to play for either the or .

Transferred to the Chelsea Football Club for a princely sum; a resounding vindication of the fact that the young man could have been a very valuable asset to the football team – he leaves for .

Taida Pasic, arrived from Kosovo at the age of 12 with her family, she quickly picked up Dutch and ended up being the best in her class for years – just months before her final exams, she became embroiled in an immigration situation which involved sending her back to Kosovo. At one time, she was handcuffed by officials in the presence of her classmates.

The brilliant girl who has since returned to Kosovo but was granted the unique dispensation of sitting her Dutch exams in the Dutch embassy wants to study law in the elite University of Leiden and a foundation in the has already offered to sponsor both tuition and living expenses.

She should return under a student’s visa and Mrs Verdonk better do well not to stand in her way this time.

Such is the way our love for the goes unrequited because some mandarin of officialdom bellows with salivating and sick-making sputum like Cerberus – Who goes there?

Many have suffered

These are the ones we know which Mrs Verdonk has through ultra vires exposed to the press in her quest to burnish her tough right-wing image.

The number of times the Second Chamber has suffered the sobriquet of a barking dog without a bite begins to bother me as Mrs Verdonk has been called at least 5 times to explain herself to parliament.

After the debate which is usually characterised with Dutch plain speaking and deference without the genuflection, Mrs Verdonk sometimes cuts the image of an unassailable overload who has one answer and everything point to that one answer to the exasperation of the members of the Second Chamber.

Rather than sanction her or pass a vote of no confidence on her, détente reigns as she is given a mandate to execute and another chance to sin again. Where the courts have ordered her to reflect she has been slothful to the point of almost mocking the context of our democracy because her populist views buoys her in the eyes of the general populace.

Where there is no effective sanction these high profile dramas of sacrificing talent and human welfare of opportunistic advantage would continue. Thankfully, the last time this happened she burnt her own bridges too. I suppose, when a mountain is immovable we can only hope there is volcano underneath it ready to help it self-destruct.

These issues should count against her, regardless of the trouble she might eventually cause – parties and people of the far right are beginning to woo her, and as long as she believes is following the rules, she might be tempted to break ranks – hopefully, that would be breaking ranks into obscurity.

And the runner-up is - Lady Oddjob

Seconds from First

One thing about coming second-best is you get to speak first and cheer the leader as you humbly acknowledge that you have been trounced.

One could not have wished a better person to be in that position than Lady Oddjob (Mrs Rita Verdonk) the Minister without Portfolio in charge of Integration and Immigration.

The result of the VVD – Liberal Party Leadership contest was down to the wire as polls suggested the youthful Mark Rutte might come off worse having been an initial favourite when a no-runner tried to get name recognition by creating the similitude of a political joust – she, Jelleke Veenendaal mercifully got 3% of the vote.

The main result itself was 51% to Mark and 46% to Rita, a result that shows a modicum of Dutch ambivalence than Dutch courage.

Support as minister deny as leader

Generally, Lady Oddjob commands extensive support in the Netherlands, her populist approach to dealing with immigration cases has many times earned her the title of best politician – which we can say is down to being able to enforce the rules down the line.

A tough-talking, unyielding and firm minister is necessary for those matters, but it offers no training ground for leadership – that requires another set of skills that working in the prisons service and then moving to corporate consulting firm do not offer.

The generalisation I can deduce here separates the immigrant/expatriate community from the Dutch – Whilst we believe rules should and must be enforced, we also realise that humans made those rules and sometimes humanity requires that exceptions in application are valid.

As I have noted before, the Dutch do have a knack for breaking the rules but understand that the whole weight of officialdom and the law can be brought to bear if one is caught breaking those rules.

With that in mind, we would rather not break the rules at all, we can be found queuing, stopping at traffic lights, upbraiding others for being uncivil and suddenly be exposed as unDutched.

An opportunist looking like a pragmatist

However, when reviewing the issue of Lady Oddjob, what makes everyone breathe a collective sigh of relief is the opinion that her winning might have lead her to pull out of the governing coalition in a few months and capitalise on her popularity to become the first female Prime Minster of the Netherlands.

I, for one would not be surprised if she eventually decides to become the leader of her own party, considering the way she was carpeted by her party for what she did concerning Ayaan Hirsi Ali who also happened to be from the same party.

Vengeance is not hers

Before the election was over, there were rumours the those who were involved were already having their cards marked by supporters of Verdonk who was imminently going to take the prize – we have been spared the Night of Long Knives as vengeance would belong to another time and era.

Everyone likes Mrs Verdonk where she is and she has a lot of work to do the make her department, efficient, friendly and professionally capable of handling immigration and asylum issues humanely.

Having to deny that sick children get deported reveals without need for other evidence the feeling people have towards the way the agency operates.

My commiserations to Lady Oddjob, though I never intended to offer any congratulations – that belongs to a parallel universe, the one we do yet not inhabit.

References

Rutte crowned in choreographed 'Idols' show

We don't deport ill children - Verdonk

The Verdonk – Lady Oddjob Archive

Lady Oddjob draws ire and fire

I need not say anymore, the Liberal Party has been accused of scandalous opportunism in supporting Mrs Verdonk’s actions.

The Verdonk Archive

Lady Oddjob - From Irrevelance to Assimilation

Replacement is not enough

Poor Mrs Verdonk must be wondering what hit her, as the headlines seem to have shifted to more important things than some female running for the leadership of a major coalition partner in the Dutch government.

For all the vituperation and brickbats she has received for the way she has run the Ministry of Integration and Immigration portfolio, one would think any detractor would ask for her to be replaced.

It now transpires that certain people are not so much concerned for the person of the minister but the office of the ministry itself.

In what might be called a laudable example of integrated thinking by an immigrant alderman in Amsterdam; he suggested that better-focused ministries could so easily provide for the services Mrs Verdonk’s ministry provides.

Lost twin of a pair of briefs

Basically, the observation is that Mrs Verdonk has focused so much on immigration to the detriment of integration that she might as well be a second Justice Minister.

This is quite insightful because she has been in cahoots with the Justice ministry on many occasions where immigrant rights have been abused, ignored or overruled or pilloried for populist sake.

It is arguable that the minister needs re-education as to what her brief entails or she has performed to the expectation of making her brief irrelevant to our Dutch polity.

Our Lady Oddjob is definitely now at odds with her brief.

No balance just sway

If the thrust of the ministry has grown lop-sided to favour broadly one side of an intended balance of integrating immigrants, it makes sense that the functions of integration should go to the education or social affairs ministry.

There might be a case for putting immigration in the care of internal affairs whilst the justice ministry provides effective guidance in handling those matters.

Assimilate! Assimilate! Exterminate!

I could not agree more, the lady has polarised the general tasks of her remit as to obviate the need for her ministry, which in some cases has been an influence peddling forum for beating on the unfortunate.

This, one must say is a classic case of total fulfilment – the day immigration and integration brought forth assimilation.

This is just what they want every immigrant to become – assimilated – where better to start than at the ministry itself?

Lady Oddjob throws her hat in

Bag hits table with a thud

It is with incredulity that I announce that my best Dutch minister, Mrs Rita Verdonk of the Immigration and Integration ministry is considering becoming the leader of the VVD (Liberal Party).

The position of leader became vacant earlier this month with a resignation stemming from a slight loss of influence in local government after the elections in early March.

The collective sigh of relief that would have out-blown any American hurricane that accompanied Mrs Verdonk’s decision not to join the race was palpable almost to the extreme.

Now the sharp intake of breath at this new development might as well be the reason for the low atmospheric pressure that allows for the current rainy days.

If I have ever sung the praises of Mrs Verdonk it would be for the ingenuity of the ideas she floats that makes right-thinking people cringe and quake.

The possibility of her becoming party leader is sure, but that of her becoming the Prime Minister of the Netherlands would be a first for a lady, but could also spell disaster.

What other liberty, tolerance, empathy, kindness, accommodation and value of the Dutch would be decapitated at her ascension? I dare not countenance the possibilities.

We need inspired leaders

What we require for the Netherlands is not some right-wing firebrand bordering on a loose cannon that has be rein in her commentary every now and again.

More so, it appears with the gravitas and authority that is lacking from the current Prime Minister one can be tempted with anyone else just to have some sort of leadership.

For now, her policies and politics are divisive enough to lose her support in the general populace and she probably has had the most threats of censure from the parliament about conduct, activity, pronouncements and abuse of power.

However, for the same reason, one can see the Dutch doing the improbable to attain the incredible and resulting in regret.

It is time to watch and pray.

The Verdonk Blog Archive

Dutch Intolerance Incubator brings forth electoral still-born March 2006

Tough as a heart of stone March 2006

Vera Drake fetes Dr Mengele in Rotterdam February 2006

Handbags at dawn February 2006

No harsh tongue for Mrs Verdonk January 2006

Dancing on their warm graves November 2005

A new spitting cell September 2005

Tolerance as a mindset of choice, prejudice and hypocrisy - Part 2 June 2004

About Oddjob

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