It was close to board for Hugo de Jonge election to CDA party leader Wednesday. His counter-candidate Pieter Omtzigt managed to win many hearts within the party. The result shows a divided CDA. It is now up to the Deputy Prime Minister whether he can steer Christian Democrats in unison to the parliamentary elections in March next year.
You’ve talked a lot about the “little luyden” you want to stand up for. What kind of people are they today? What do they earn? What kind of work do they do?
“We live in a time when the uncertainties are already quite big. The automaticity that you will get better in your life than your parents is no longer there. In the United States they call it the fear of falling.
Will my children still be able to get a house? Is there still care for me when I am old? Do I keep my job and do I get by on one income? Those are the fundamental things of existence. Those concerns of ordinary people have only increased due to the corona crisis.
If we do nothing about that, then those concerns grow into contradictions and that can lead to polarization. That is really the last thing we should want. “
One of those assignments is therefore building additional homes. Isn’t that already high on the agenda of this cabinet? How will the CDA handle this further under your leadership?
“It is not going fast enough. If you look at what has been built in recent years, that is less than half of what should have been built. By 2030 we will need a million extra homes.
That means more direction when designating construction sites and when building homes.
Actually, wherever there is a shortage, a strong government role is needed. You also see that in healthcare. The blessings of the market don’t work there. “
So it is also about income, because that provides certainty. Are we going to see a reduction in your burden?
“In any case, work must offer security. Liberalization has really hit the labor market. Just look at the flexibilization. There is a nice report on this. Chest patch.
We have to learn from the crisis ten years ago that you are not going to cut back immediately. If you do that, you will touch people in their insecurities. “
Do you also see tax relief for citizens and companies as investing?
“That is possible, but I still see the need to invest in promising sectors and promising regions for the future. The space and the possibilities lie precisely in the region. You can still build houses there, the Randstad is packed.”
I heard little about the climate in the campaign. Is that a closed chapter since the climate law was passed by parliament?
“In a way it was about the climate when it was about the farmers.”
The farmers came to you at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht during the CDA debate. How was that meeting?
“That was a great conversation. You see a great deal of uncertainty among farmers. They are seen as the biggest polluters in the Netherlands.”
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Omtzigt (left) and De Jonge just after the announcement of the results. (Pro Shots)
Doesn’t agriculture emit the most nitrogen in the Netherlands?
“Look, we will have to work with the farmers on new certainties. If they hear from The Hague all day that there are too many farmers and that they are seen as the biggest polluters in the Netherlands, it is difficult for them to have certainties there. Farmers rightly ask that politicians acknowledge that they are in a fix.
We also have to be honest. We cannot continue to do what we have always done, because that is difficult to do with the sustainability assignment we also have. We have to put that puzzle together to ultimately achieve the ‘Paris’ climate goals.
This is also how we look at sustainability. It was our own Ruud Lubbers who was the first prime minister who made the theme of the environment important. Stewardship is one of the four fundamentals of the CDA. We have the Earth on loan. We have to finish the job of Lubbers. “
Were you nervous for today?
“No. It was very exciting.”
Are you such a cool frog?
“If you are convinced that you have told in good conscience what the role of the CDA should be, then I can rest.
The appreciation for Pieter is rightly great. People love Pieter. He shows what it means to work on people’s concerns and regain lost confidence in politics. “
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