I was on the edge of my seat. You could hear a pin drop in the hall. Mariette Hamer walked from her seat, deliberately but without haste, a few paces, up two stairs, put her paper on the triangular podium, and turned to face her colleagues.
Adjust the microphone; deep breath.
This is the moment everyone has been waiting for the past two days. The leader of the Labour Party in the Dutch lower house of parliament is about to take a stand on a principled position, or buckle under political pressure.
Taking a stand means cabinet crisis. The two biggest parties in the government - the CDA (Christian Democrats) and Labour - disagree, but Labour Party leadership is willing to “go along to get along”, against the wishes of their own MPs.
Buckling under means losing face, losing credibility, losing votes, losing the upcoming election for the European parliament. Losers.
Deep breath. “Madam speaker, I’m not going to beat around the bush. This isn’t a simple question.”
She goes on for a few minutes, but it’s not clear which way she’s heading.
Until she reads her resolution - what her party wants the government to do.
It’s long, and convoluted.
As she reaches her fourth point, her colleagues in the opposition benches get wind of where she’s headed.
Moans, catcalls, derision.
The sound of buckling.
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on Jun 3rd, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Hi, good post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be coming back