I started to realise that I use Facebook more and more for short comments on whats happening in my own homecountry The Netherlands, as well as elsewhere. One of these comments made me write the following:
(O, and below you find the Dutch comment as placed on Facebook as well)
The formation of a new Dutch governement is and has allways been a delicate process, though sometimes excecuted in the most blunt ways.
Its as much showing respect to the electionresult and as such the way the people have spoken, as well as a powerplay and creating the best startingposition for the next general election.
For some parties showing basic respect for other voters then their own, can be very hard or impossible, as has been shown this last week in the Dutch formation process.
To think that in the UK, with no coalition governement history, two parties like the Conservatives and the Liberal-Democrats, were able to step up to the challenge and actually got the job done in less then a week!! Not only because of the urgency, but if you have to, better get it over and done with asap, then it hurts way less then torturing ooyourself too long with it.
I know that the Dutch Liberal leader is of the same mind.
Not being prepared to let another year get lost after the outgoing governement hasn't done one relevant thing to combat the effects of the financial crisis these last 2/3 years, he was and is willing to talk with everyone as soon as possible so on basis of substance parties can decide, instead on perception.
I allways believed one has to keep his friends close, but once enemies even closer. You need to be able to truly understand once opponents if one wants to be able to turn them around in once favor.
You can only try to accomplish that by showing basic respect by entering in those talks.
Now I agree, entering talks with the PVV is a very slippery road to take, but a road one can not avoid if one wants to show that basic respect to voters, even not ones own.... how is one otherwise able to represent also those electorate which are not once own when one has finally formed a new governement. How can one be a governement of all if one has refused to at least talk with representatives of roughly 1/6 of the total electorate!!
But why is that road slippery, I hear you ask? Well, thats because the PVV is, contrary to all other parties in the Dutch parliament, a simple party: it has only one member, its leader Wilders. All others are his advisors and for him they are just that.
He is the PVV, he changes his mind, the PVV changes her mind. He decides to declare that the sky in futur will be green, then the party will say the sky is green... if the next week he willl say orange, then ..etc.. you get my drift. The PVV doen't know any party democracy.
As such there's the danger for all who enter into talks with the PVV, with Wilders that he might give in to all their demands, as long as he can take up his seats in the new governement.
Hence all these parties are scared like hell to be found at the same table as Wilders PVV. Not only their own electorate will have great difficulty accepting entering in talks with him, but also other so called democratic parties in parliament.
But are these parties truly democratic when they exclude 1.5 milion voters, refuse to take them at al serious? Is that the example we should give others who struggle with democracy?
I believe it is also short sighted! As true democratic party one should allways enter into talks and see how far one can get. And if not posible then it has been on content and not of perception. Then, depending on the way things go, one can show the general public, which is everybodies electorate, howcome it was impossible to make a coalition with the other party and that that party is clearly not prepared to rule!
To prevent such an onslaught that party might give in on all their essential points... which are, quite logical from my point of view, unacceptable for them... like etnic registration of people (by the way, such is introduced for the first time by Labor politicians, in Rotterdam I believe), basic respect for all recognised religions.
Ergo, it might be clear that I think its rather stupid (and sorry if I know offend some of the readers of my blog) to refuse talking to and with any party in Parliament which commands a relevant electoral basis and as such holds a position in that parliament. Excluding a party from further talks should ALLWAYS be based on results of talks, not on presumptions.
A teacher taught me once, a long time ago: under pressure everything gets fluid in the end .... not unimportant in a country traditionally ruled by coalition governement.
Its just a question who gets the chance to apply the most pressure on the other, who has the most substance for his points of view ;-)
On Facebook I wrote a short comment in Dutch on roughly the same subject:
Ben geen PVV fan, mild uitgedrukt, maar om na die vertoning van een krap weekje formeren of beter gezegd weigeren te praten nu te zeggen dat er voldoende recht is gedaan aan die 1,5 miljoen kiezers, mwoi: ga fietsen, zou ik zeggen! VVD/Mark was de enige die bereid was serieus te praten en het respect voor die giga uitslag van de PVV te tonen, de rest?
27 minuten geleden · · Reageren · Vind ik leuk
Rob J. Vermeer Als je niet praat, doe dat dan op inhoud... maar denk dat iedereen wegschiet om met Wilders om de tafel te gaan zitten, als de dood dat ie zoveel water bij de wijn doet dat ze met goed fatsoen niet meer onder hem uit kunnen.... dan maar botweg van meet af aan weigeren en wegduiken...echter dat is zo laf! O, en respectloos naar de kiezers.
Als je regeringsverantwoordelijkheid wil dragen dien je alle kiezers te respecteren, ook zij die niet op jouw partij heben gestemd want ook hen zal je dan moeten vertegenwoordigen als je uiteindelijk gaat regeren. En kiezers vertegenwoordigen betekend ook dat je ze beter moet proberen te begrijpen... en da's wat anders dan het met ze eens zijn!!... Met elkaar aan tafel gaan is daar een uitgelezen manier voor en tont respect voor inhoud, ok al ben je het niet met die ander eens.... je 'tegenstanders' leren kennen is de eerste stap naar het maken van 'medestanders' ;-)
O, enne dan is er natuurlijk nog het landsbelang dat gebaat is bij een snelle, onbaatzuchtige formatie op inhoud in plaats van perceptie.....
PS I appologise for al the typing errors or grammer/writing mistakes made in this contribution of mine.....As usual I had to press the "publish ariclle" button ;-)
