NSC is now drawing a line and plunging the shaky Schoof cabinet further into chaos

Political history sometimes writes itself in a few minutes. This was the case this Friday evening at the Ministry of General Affairs, where the Cabinet had met for hours. Much of the meeting had focused on additional measures against Israel, due to the attack on Gaza City and plans to build thousands of illegal homes in the occupied West Bank.

Around 7:30 p.m., outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp (NSC) had pushed back his chair. He stood up. He said he didn't think the food on the table was nearly enough; it was so little he couldn't carry it. Then, to the astonishment of the other ministers, including Veldkamp's party members, he left the room.

A few minutes later, he announced his departure to the cameras of the journalists gathered in the ministry's lobby. Afterward, the other ministers and state secretaries of the NSC gathered. An hour after Veldkamp, ​​they decided to show solidarity and resign as well.

No 'joyful' meeting

"A lousy day," outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof called it later that evening, in the hallway outside the plenary hall of the House of Representatives. The cabinet meeting had not been "a joyful meeting." Schoof was "quite grumpy" about it and found it "quite irresponsible" of NSC to resign from the cabinet. "And that's perhaps putting it mildly."

The caretaker Schoof cabinet is practically obliterated. The only remaining coalition parties, the VVD and BBB, hold a combined 32 seats. Following the departure of the NSC, and earlier the departure of the PVV in June, the cabinet is virtually powerless in the House of Representatives.

The already shaky caretaker cabinet descended into further chaos, and with it the national government. When the PVV left, the hope was that those remaining would approach the elections in a calm, administrative, and responsible manner. That never happened. The remaining parties were reluctant to cooperate, and the differences between them proved insurmountable.

Minimum playing space

The VVD and BBB now have at least another few months to go: first, there are elections at the end of October, followed by a new coalition government. The parties' room for maneuver is minimal, and the authority of the non-partisan Schoof is even weaker. He seemed to have become almost invisible when, late Friday evening, he announced the departure of the NSC in a few sentences in the House of Representatives. Many party leaders were present, but the VVD party, where there is much anger and incomprehension, had only sent spokesperson Eric van der Burg.

The cabinet must move on, but how? Immediately after NSC's departure, the Ministry of General Affairs is still clueless. For example, they don't know how all the cabinet positions will be distributed, or whether all the departed ministers will be replaced. Schoof was scheduled to travel to Kyiv this weekend to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He canceled. Instead, he said he needs the entire weekend to get clarity. Early next week, when Parliament debates NSC's departure, he hopes to be able to provide more clarity.

A departure from the NSC was often in the air. But it never happened. On Friday, however, NSC members were heard saying their "boundaries" had been crossed because the cabinet refused to take stricter measures against Israel. Eddy van Hijum, Deputy Prime Minister and NSC leader, said that Veldkamp, ​​"one of the best ministers in this cabinet," wasn't given the leeway he needed.

Pushing boundaries

In recent months, NSC members have frequently discussed boundaries that have become very real. When NSC joined the Schoof cabinet, the party promised to strictly monitor the cabinet and test ideas against the "ruler" (in the words of party leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven) of the rule of law. But leaving the cabinet? Each time, NSC balked at such a step.

The line wasn't crossed when NSC member and State Secretary Nora Achahbar (Benefits) resigned last year over the cabinet's conduct. Nor when the PVV (Party for Freedom) pushed the boundaries of the democratic rule of law. And still not when the majority of the party, just before the summer, couldn't accept a passed PVV motion on criminalizing illegal residence . The NSC wanted "comfort" from the cabinet that things wouldn't get that bad, didn't get it, and still joined the coalition by voting in favor of two asylum laws. Now the NSC is doing so. And the NSC party learned that it's already campaign time when VVD MP Eric van der Burg said in Parliament on Friday evening: "It's astonishing how the NSC is leaving the country's government in such a mess."

For NSC itself, the sudden departure is a gamble, but staying on would have been just as bad. Many members and voters left in recent months because they felt the party lacked a principled stance. In fact, Nicolien van Vroonhoven told NRC at the end of last year that she actually wanted her party to be more in tune with the coalition, rather than always opposing it. As a result, NSC gradually became less of a party that stood for good governance, and ultimately did participate.

No one at NSC knows exactly what to do next. The party has been rudderless since the departure of party founder Pieter Omtzigt in April. He won twenty seats in the House of Representatives in November 2023, largely on his own merits, while polls show NSC is in danger of losing zero seats. Within NSC, there's talk that perhaps it doesn't matter much anymore, and that it's better to stand up for your principles than to think too strategically.

List leader Eddy van Hijum has now lost his prominent position in the cabinet. If he wants to remain visible, he could return to the House of Representatives. There has been such a huge game of musical chairs there (three MPs left in the summer, two of whom surrendered their seats) that there's still room. The NSC estimates that Veldkamp's principled stance on Israel could resonate well with potential voters. But the precise consequences of (another) historic day in the Schoof era are anyone's guess.