Tame Dutch political campaigns
Due to the horrific plane crash that occurred wednesday all campaigns for the Dutch elections of June 9th have been suspended. But even without that announcement I wonder if the public would have noticed because it feels like there’s no campaigning going on. It all feels very tame. And that’s with less than a month to go.
If you believe the latest polls (Dutch site) everything is still up for grabs and the biggest parties are still close when it comes to the number of seats that they’re projected to win and any number of coalitions are still possible. Not only that, I felt that for the first time in many years people have some real alternatives to vote for. So you would assume that the parties would go all out with their campaigns to show the public what they stand for and why they are the best choice. Nothing of that seems to be going on.
Until now the only somewhat exciting things you’ve heard are that Cohen of the PVDA has ruled out a coalition between his party and the PVV and that former CDA spin-master and under secretary De Vries had an affair with one of his staff members. That’s about it (and I wonder if the latter has any real importance at all). Well, there is a bit of humor with the campaign of Trots of Nederland which seems to be more of a parody on a political party and I know we Dutch tend to be low key when it comes to political campaigning (especially compared to say the US). But as said, this all feels very tame. Maybe the upcoming debates will be interesting.
And that’s a real shame and in my view a lost opportunity. Dutch citizens have lost touch with politics and should once again be reminded of the importance of their vote. Not only the fact that they should go out and vote on June 9th, but also that they should vote for what they think is the best choice. And the only way they can do that is by knowing what each party stands for and wants for out little country. I hope the parties will give them a chance to discover just that.
Tags: Viewpoint
May 14th, 2010 at 10:38
Very true. Although I would never want something like the way American’s have with their campaigns over here. That would scare me but a little more effort would be nice.
Even specialized parties are looking interesting to me this year like the Pirate Party. Might be young and such but might send a statement as well. Still not sure what I will vote for anyways.