The MPs of the ChristenUnie must be stricter for the cabinet. The members of the smallest coalition party said this at a congress in Zwolle. More than 70 percent of the Christian Union members supported the proposal that calls for a stricter approach.
In the extreme case, a motion of mistrust or censure against government officials “who contribute to an unreliable governance culture” should not be shunned, the petitioners say. With a no-confidence motion, ministers and state secretaries can be sent away.
Problematic behavior
The petitioners argue that the party is jointly responsible for maintaining an “unreliable governance culture” if government officials never get a tap on their fingers. “We need to be clearer in rejecting problematic behavior,” one of the petitioners said.
In the explanatory statement, Minister De Jonge was mentioned as an example, following a recent debate about the face mask deal. Also mentioned was Prime Minister Rutte, “who has a selective memory if it suits him well”.
The cabinet contains three ministers of the ChristenUnie: Minister Schouten for Poverty Policy, Minister Staghouwer of Agriculture and State Secretary Van Ooijen of VWS.
Destructive role play
Party leader Segers acknowledged in his speech that confidence in politics still needs to be restored, especially after the long-running formation. The Christenunie foreman spoke of a “miserable political year” and a “parody of politics”.
According to Segers, the latter depends on both the coalition and the opposition. “We‘ve ended up in a kind of destructive role-playing game that pulls us all down, that’s just not good for us.”
The party leader called the recovery a “desert trip” that he does not even know if it has already come to an end. In The Hague, again, it must be about ideals and ideas more often, he argued.