Plasterk survives spy scandal

Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk has found himself in hot water over spying allegations, but has somehow emerged unscathed. JOEP DERKSEN investigates.

 

He was declared dead and buried by the media, but Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk (PvdA) seems to have arisen from the political ashes, like a Phoenix. But how did Plasterk get into this mess? First, he blamed the American NSA for eavesdropping on Dutch civilians, but in early February news came out that it was the Dutch secret services MIVD and AIVD who registered the data of 1.8 million Dutch phone calls. The real problems started for Plasterk (PvdA: Labour party) after an interview with television programme programma Nieuwsuur (News hour) on 30 October 2013. He waved with a letter in his hand, explicitly stating that it was the Americans who had intercepted 1.8 million pieces of telephone data in the Netherlands. However, Plasterk did not have a clue what was going on, he admitted in a letter to Parliament on 10  February.

 

The political soap went further in November 2013, after the television interview. At the time NRC Handelsblad reported, that the American intelligence agency NSA had been spying on the Netherlands between 1945 and 1968. This information came from documents that were publicised by Edward Snowden. Snowden also made public that the NSA has been spying on prime ministers, diplomats and telephone and Internet data from citizens on a large scale for the past 13 years or so. In November, D66 and the Socialist Party (SP) called on Plasterk to explain whether the Netherlands’ own agencies were involved in this eavesdropping on Dutch citizens by the NSA. GroenLinks called for a stricter control by Parliament on the Dutch secret services. Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) said in de Telegraaf on 23 November 2013 that he expected more revelations on this subject.

 

In February of this year, Plasterk made public via a letter to Parliament that he was informed by the AIVD and the MIVD of the real facts on 22 November. Neither Plasterk, nor Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (VVD) nor the Prime Minister decided to make this information public at that time. This would reveal the way the national secret service agencies operate and could cause a threat to national security, Plasterk explained in the same letter to Parliament. However, early this year Plasterk was forced to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth because of legal proceedings brought about by a group called “Citizens Against Plasterk” regarding the use of data collected by secret services. It thus came out that Plasterk had been lying to Parliament and neglected to provide all information of which he was aware.

 

This could have been a political death sentence for Plasterk. But in this country, it has become custom that the coalition partners (in this case: VVD and PvdA) cover each other’s backs. The fall of a high profile minister such as Plasterk could have disastrous consequences for the entire government. Adding to this is the fact that both the VVD and PvdA have been suffering heavy losses in the polls. The VVD is now down from 41 seats at the national elections one and a half year ago to 18 seats. The PvdA currently has 39 seats, but could only count on 12 seats if elections were held right now.

 

So, the good old “I’m sorry” statement was taken out of the closet. Plasterk apologised profusely and said that it was his entire fault and that he would never do it again. He would also diminish his appearances in television programmes and would do his utmost to improve his work. Not surprisingly, the PvdA and VVD parliamentarians all accepted his statement. However, almost all of the opposition parties supported a motion that would force Plasterk to resign if it was accepted by a majority of the 150 members of parliament. Even the ever-so-loyal D66 party supported this motion, but it did not stand a chance, since the PvdA and VVD still hold a majority.

 

But this story does not end here. Although the VVD and PvdA have a majority in the Tweede Kamer, they still need the help of opposition parties in the Eerste Kamer (comparable to the House of Lords). Moves like this by the coalition government are destined to erode support among the loyal opposition. And without the support in the Eerste Kamer, the VVD and PvdA government will be a lame duck. Ultimately, the country runs the risk that extreme parties such as the PVV and SP will benefit. The population always gets the government it deserves, it is sometimes said. So what have we done to deserve this?

 

(Article for The Holland Times, March edition)