Dutch Politics and its Larger Problems: Warranted Distrust

December 4th, 2022

Are these drastic numbers warranted? Are people right to be this weary of the government? And what exactly is the government doing to address these claims? 

Dutch politics has found itself in a delicate and tense state over the last months. Trust in the government and politics in general is at its lowest ever. According to NOS 67% of residents have little to no trust in Dutch politics, 71% lack trust in the current cabinet, and 67% of residents have no trust in Prime Minister Rutte. Are these drastic numbers warranted? Are people right to be this weary of the government? And what exactly is the government doing to address these claims? 

I believe that these numbers are warranted and justified, the average Dutch citizen has been given many reasons within the last years to be distrustful of the current administration and their direction.Beginning with Rutte, 67% of the population does not trust him, a number which is not inconceivable especially after these recent few years and the scandals surrounding him. Recalling back to 2021, it came out that Rutte and his government had wrongfully forced tens of thousands of families to repay their childcare subsidies.

This forced many of the families into financial ruin and bankruptcy. Orlando Kadir, a lawyer who represented 600 of the families, claimed officials of racial profiling. He stated that these greedy bureaucrats picked out foreign names to extort. So if there is so much distrust towards Rutte, why is it that he remains in power?

They are shiny and colourful on the outside, seemingly open and welcoming for everybody especially tourists and outsiders. Yet when you stop and think about it, something just doesn't add up

While he did offer his resignation which was accepted, this was done during the COVID-19 pandemic which gave special powers and allowed his cabinet to remain as caretakers until the next set of elections. He then subsequently won the next elections. As any keen person can deduce, extorting thousands of single mothers and needy families is not ideal to keep a good public image (crazy…I know). 

Alongside other subsequent large scale shady activities which will be covered some other time, Rutte seems to be running his government a bit like those candy shops we see in abundance in the centre of Amsterdam that are definitely not money laundering/drug front operations (gotta stay safe can’t get sued out here). They are shiny and colourful on the outside, seemingly open and welcoming for everybody especially tourists and outsiders. Yet when you stop and think about it, something just doesn't add up; a deeper nefarious purpose behind it begins to unravel. Just like most locals understand there is something suspicious about those shops, there is something sus under the surface with Rutte’s government. 

To me, someone willing to purposely target thousands of vulnerable families for millions of euros should not be allowed anywhere near the government ever again as they clearly don’t have the people’s best interest in mind. But just like candy it creeps up on you slowly killing you through overconsumption without even realising. Concluding in similar spirits, if I had to personally compare Rutte to a candy, he’d be a zoute drop or licorice, nasty yet always seems to be there regardless if people like the taste.