The man had been in office for less than a day, and now he already stood in full light, opposite the glorious winner. Together, in front of the cameras, they will officially launch government formation talks.
Nerves? No, it’s too old for that, and too good. Healthy competitive tension, at best.
“It’s good to see you,” the winner says and extends his hand.
“It’s also nice to see you again,” the man agrees.
‘nice room.’
‘nice room.’
“First conversation.”
“The first conversation, of course.”
“First conversation.”
The man is no novice when it comes to awkward encounters on camera. As a minister, he was once head of the public broadcaster, which the other would rather put an end to today than tomorrow. At the time, a new radio show host, who had personally brought himself into the public system, threw taxpayer-funded champagne out of a Hummer to show how worthwhile it was to spend that money. He thought it came out okay. Well, he laughed a little awkwardly, and it wasn’t that encouraging, but it still seemed endearing, and not silly at all.
“Where do you want me?” asks the winner.
The man points to a wooden chair at the side of the table. “Nice chair,” he says. He walks to his seat and thinks: Now let’s say something, something constructive.
“here we are.”
“here we are.”
“Who had this…?” The man is hesitant. Can he say that?
“Who would have expected that?” Winner mumbles.
“Yes, yes,” says the man.
‘Yes. Yes, says the winner in confirmation.
In recent years, old acquaintances and friends have wondered what was going on under his hat. Why had he drifted so far from what he had been before, and with what kind of fire he began writing columns for that newspaper, columns in which he chopped a progressive subject into bite-sized pieces each week, for the sake of the conservative snack board. These people think it’s his fault, when he’s sure it’s theirs. It’s a beta, simply counting enthusiastic responses to its columns. From completely different people than before, which is probably a good sign.
On his way here he heard on the radio that the new climate summit was starting on Thursday, at the end of the hottest year on record, and that expectations surrounding the climate summit were very low, partly because the president this time was Sultan. He is the leader in daily life, belongs to the UAE state oil company. Your tone was pessimistic, and you were on the verge of worry. How lucky that the winner and he both think climate is bullshit. They can safely leave it undiscussed.
Later that day, the winning man will be seen describing their conversation as “interesting.” Then he repeats what he had previously told him in private. “We will not deport anyone.” What a conductor he really is, the man of course isn’t sure if it’s thanks to him, but it gives him a warm feeling anyway. He’s back, and that’s good.
Finished by the author
Frank Heinen is a writer and columnist for De Volkskrant. Columnists are free to express their opinions and do not have to abide by the rules of journalistic objectivity. Read our guidelines here.
