Earlier this week, Van Houwelingen attacked Sjoerdsma sharply over his party’s support for the outgoing government’s coronavirus policy. He tells Sgrdsma that “his time will come” and that there will be “courts”.
Bad statement, says ex-Secretary of State and Vice-President of the Council of State Tgenk Wellink. The fact that the FvD later defended itself by saying that this comment was not intended personally does not impress Tjeenk Willlink. “It’s worse. It threatens the entire system.”
Watch a clip from the House debate in this video:
Tgenk Wellink, appointed at the beginning of this year as an informant to calm the faltering government formation, has been warning for some time about the consequences of continued austerity of morals in the political arena.
Not dark enough
“I’ve often been accused of being too gloomy for the past 30 years,” he says. “Maybe I wasn’t gloomy enough.” The storming of the US Capitol earlier this year by supporters of former President Donald Trump showed, he says, where this roughness could lead.
According to Tjenk Willink, parliamentarians must abide by agreements on how to treat each other. They should be tolerant, always strive for a compromise and respect everyone. “This intentionally goes against that.”
