The coalition of four right-wing parties that is preparing to govern in the Netherlands – with the party of ultra leader Geert Wilders at the head – agreed this Tuesday on the candidate for prime minister after almost six months of negotiations. This is Dick Schoof, 67 years old, who is today the highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Justice and has a technical profile. He previously headed the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD, in its Dutch acronym) and was the National Coordinator for the Fight against Terrorism (NCTV). Schoof represents a figure of consensus that allows the negotiations to move forward to fill the rest of the ministerial positions.
The figure of the prime minister is essential in this phase of the formation of the Government: without knowing who it is, it is more difficult to form the future Council of Ministers. If confirmed, Schoof will lead the first Executive led by the extreme right in the Netherlands, although his representative (Wilders, the candidate with the most votes in the November elections) resigned in March to become prime minister to pave the way for the formation of the Government in view of the rejection that it aroused in the other right-wing forces that will make up the Executive.
In his presentation as a candidate, Schoof has acknowledged that his name “may be a surprise.” “The operation of the rule of law has guided my career and I want to be the prime minister of all the Dutch,” he said. During his first press conference as a politician, Schoof has been asked several times “who will be the boss” in the new Executive, since he has been proposed by Wilders after having won the last elections. “That is irrelevant. All four parties have asked me for it,” he declared. “It is necessary to regain the trust of citizens and work on asylum, migration and social security issues.”
He has also said that Mark Rutte, outgoing prime minister, “is a source of inspiration.” “Although I will do it my way,” he stressed. Frans Timmermans, leader of the alliance between Social Democrats and Ecologists, the main opposition group, maintains that Schoof “is Wilders’ candidate.”
Schoof was active in the social democracy, although he no longer has a party card and has developed his career as a senior state official. His trajectory is different from that of the liberal Mark Rutte, who rose from the youth of his party (VVD) and was previously a deputy and secretary of state. In an interview given this March to the left-liberal magazine De Groene Amsterdammer, Schoof asked for “a little more reflection” given the electoral results of November 22 that gave victory to Wilders’ Party for Freedom. “The rule of law and democracy are always subject to change,” he said. Regarding the fall of the previous Government due to differences in asylum rules, he pointed out: “Politics decides, not public office.”
Schoof knows well the functioning of the Executive and has not only been in close contact with the Government in his years at the head of the secret services and the fight against terrorism. He also has extensive experience as a crisis manager, including the one unleashed by the tragedy of Malaysian airlines flight MH17, downed in 2014 over Ukraine by a Russian-made missile. The plane took off from Amsterdam airport and its 298 occupants died; 196 were Dutch nationals. Schoof was then coordinating the anti-terrorist fight in the Netherlands. He in turn directed the Immigration and Naturalization Service and this is one of the most conflictive sections of the Government plan presented by the right-wing coalition. The new Executive plans to ask the European Commission for permission not to participate in the community asylum and migration policy.
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The four formations that will make up the Dutch coalition are Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), New Social Contract, with the former Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt at the head; the Popular Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which is Rutte’s party although led today by Dilan Yesilgöz; and the Peasant-Citizen Movement (BBB) of Caroline van der Plas. With Wilders as the majority force, they define themselves as “a constructive partner” of the European Union, while “very critical” of further expansion of the EU.
The announcement about Schoof comes shortly after the fiasco of the previous candidate, the social democrat Ronald Plasterk, who had to withdraw because the way in which he managed some patents – in his name – for a cancer therapy developed with public funds and in partnership with the University Hospital of Amsterdam. Plasterk was never officially nominated, but questions about his integrity thwarted his candidacy. He is an expert in molecular genetics and was Minister of Education and the Interior.
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