‘Surprisingly they didn’t say anything’

Former President Mark Rutte spoke today with the first six candidates for his new cabinet. He received five in the lodge at The Hague, the only one not able to attend was Robert Dijkroff, who became Minister of Education, Culture and Science on behalf of the D66. He works and lives in the United States and spoke digitally with Root. ‘It is significant that they did not say anything,’ says political correspondent Leonard Peekman.

Dylan YesilkosANP / Dutch Height / Robin Utrecht

‘It has to be done in small pieces, with body language, in a spoken way,’ says Peekman. Wobke Hogstra was an exception because he had a few things to explain: How to combine the post of Deputy Prime Minister and the post of Minister with the post of Committee Chairman? According to Peekman, the CDA should be asked to explain why it does not have a crown prince.

‘If Hogstra leaves, no one is ready. Hugo de Jong is so damaged that it is not a logical choice to present as leader – at that time he resigned as the candidate party leader. Mona Keijzer maybe, but he has been ousted from the cabinet. There is not much left. ‘ So Hoekstra performs all three functions. ‘Then what do you want? He cannot be the finance minister, then the foreign ministry is a good position.

Dylan Yesilkas – Not laughter, but stress

The recipient of the necessary criticism was Justice and Defense Minister Dylan Yesilkos. This is the first time in history that a non-lawyer has been appointed Minister of Justice, especially in the face of criticism from lawyers. When asked about it, according to Peekman, Yeşilgöz responded defensively: ‘You saw her shoot in self-defense. I do not want to talk about it, I still want to take office. After the first time she said she didn’t want to talk about it, she wanted to take a step back and she couldn’t. Peekman marvels at his reaction: ‘Don’t laugh, it’s a little stressful.’