03/04/26 Still no government
03/04/11 No government
03/04/06 No military support
03/04/26 Still no government
03/04/11 No government
03/04/06 No military support
Two weeks after the break-up of the negotiations between the Christian Democrats and Labour we still don't have a gouvernment. In today's newspaper someone proposed in a letter to the editor that we forget about a gouvernment altogether, having civil servants run the country instead. I'm trying to think of reasons why this wouldn't be a good idea and failing. You'd have to empower the Second Chamber to be effective in their control function, of course.
More Dutch politics and current events:
Dutch politics in 2003
Over the past week I've added three episodes to the first draft of my novel. Read at your own risk.
Introduction and start of the story
After the war (27)
After the war (28)
After the war (29)
Lessons learned while writing a novel.
03/04/19 Meeting the inner critic
03/04/26 Hubrisville
The latest news: after 2,5 months negotiations between the Christian Democrats and Labour have stranded and it looks like we're not going to get a center-left Cabinet. The other plausible option, Christian Democrats plus Liberal Conservatives, doesn't have a Parliament majority. The choice would be between finding a third party to form a coalition with (with the D66 political reform party and, heaven help us, the LPF as most plausible candidates), or forming a minority Cabinet. Meanwhile, doubts about PM Jan-Peter Balkenende's leadership qualities are increasing even further.
In other news: a bronze statue of Pim Fortuyn was beheaded when the lorry driver who was transporting it made a crucial mistake about the height of a bridge. It is expected that the repairs will be ready in time for the commemoration of the murder on May 6th.
Expatica: Fortuyn statue loses its head
More Dutch politics and current events:
Dutch politics in 2003
Elsewhere on this site: don't force the story where it doesn't want to go, and other lessons learned about writing.
03/04/06 Some lessons learned
We wouldn't be, well, us if we didn't manage to have our own stupid little storm in a teacup while the world is at war. On March 22nd General Tommy Franks gave a briefing on the military operations in Iraq. At his side were Air Marshall Bryan Burridge (UK), Brigadier Maurie McNarn (Australia), Rear Admiral Per Tidemand (Denmark) and Lieutenant Colonel Jan Blom from the Netherlands. So far, so good.
Only: Blom wasn't supposed to be there. The Christian Democrats and their current coalition partners are in favour of the war, while their prospective new coalition partner Labour is against (they were against the war until it actually started, that is). The compromise reached was that the Netherlands would be giving political but no military support to the war.
When Lieutenant Colonel Jan Blom experienced his 15 minutes of fame the left-wing parties started asking questions. The Minister of Foreign Affairs replied that Blom had just happened to be there and appeared on the press conference by accident. This answer didn't exactly inspire confidence. There's been an emergency debate in the Second Chamber, but eventually Parliament decided to let it go.
Over the past months Jan-Peter Balkenende has been acquiring a reputation as a weak leader. This latest incident hasn't improved things.
The press conference
In other news: avian flu is still out of control, and the army is now helping to contain the outbreak.
ADN article
More Dutch politics and current events:
Dutch politics in 2003
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