They're going to leave!

My lucky number is 7, so I had started Friday 7/7 with a very positive expectation. That the cabinet would fall I had not seen coming, actually too much luck for one day. Rutte knows more than we know, I thought. I assumed electoral insights. Wrong! Rutte clears the field himself; he saw that his time had come. It didn't stop there. Every day came another announcement of a departing politician.

I find the most recent ones, Azarkan and Simons, very striking. Although I do not regret it at all, I lived in fear that we would be stuck with Ms. Simons forever.

Solicitation
I don't recall such an exodus before. In the wake of the familiar names, a host of others are going with them. What are all these people going to do? Is there a job available for Sylvana Simons somewhere? Who wants Sigrid, who wants Mark? And how much salary are they going to give up?

A little bit they betrayed us anyway. Constantly arguing with each other, building nothing for our society, spending ridiculous amounts of money and lots of unfinished files they leave behind. Therefore, there is no political future for these people either, any promise they would make in an election campaign would be rebuffed.

Crisis Team
They are there for a while, which is less nice. If they themselves decided to leave, how motivated are they? They will no longer make new policies, hooray, but they have to mind the store. The cabinet fell over measures to reduce the asylum influx. So that will now continue in full force. The news will spread through Africa like wildfire, so there is something in store for us.

It is actually irresponsible to let the worthless policies of the past 10 years continue to simmer while we have to go to the polls again and the next endless formation will produce another hopeless cabinet. A crisis team is needed. That team should be empowered to suspend measures that are proven to be questionable until the democratic process produces a new cabinet.

Groenlinks/PvdA
Just imagine being a supporter of the Green Left or the Labour Party. Then you don't know where you stand at all. Before we have properly digested the announcements of departure, both parties think they are the new power in the Netherlands. How can you explain a list affiliation to your voters without abolishing the autonomous status of your party? This is irrevocably going to cause major tensions.

Klaver made a 50/50 consideration for the list leadership and chose not to do it. And then along came Frans Timmermans. He's really not going to give up the nice job in Brussels (you can eat delicious food there by the looks of it) if he doesn't think the chance of the prime ministership is very real. One thing is unfortunate Frans, your climate goals have to go into the freezer. After all, Kaag looted the treasury, so we have to save up for 10 years first. I think you will be retired by then.

What does Pieter do?
In the lee, Caroline prepares to take power. Voters still have the Provincial Council election results fresh in their minds. Caroline has been unable to do anything wrong after that; she is motherly alone in the Lower House. The few moments she gets, she grabs them with flying colors, without even polishing herself. Surely it must drill deep through Sigrid's heart for that anti-hero to steal the hearts of voters. I am reminded of Cinderella. Still, I fear LPF states or a similar scenario to FvD.

The gamechanger is Pieter Omtzigt. If he chooses to participate with a list, he is now predicted to have 46 seats and will be by far the largest party. He will then certainly take 10 seats away from BBB. After the weekend we will hear from Pieter whether he will.

Happy Summer Holiday