Dutch politicians almost unanimous in praise for Obama

Dutch politicians followed the US elections throughout the night from several venues. One of the traditional places where they congregate is the seaside Kurhaus Hotel in Scheveningen, close to The Hague.

The main conference room of the hotel was decked out with a huge stars and stripes flag and huge lengths of cloth depicting the symbols of every American state were hung from the balustrades.

But the muffins at the hotel’s ‘presidential breakfast’ were rather on the small side. And equally meagre was the enthusiasm of embassy staff as the night progressed: their Republican boss was on the way out and will probably be replaced by a Democrat in January.

However, disappointed Americans did not get any sympathy from the Dutch politicians when the news of Barack Obama’s victory was announced in early this morning. They were falling over themselves to compliment the new president.

“I’m over the moon,” said the centre-left liberal D66 parliamentary party leader Alexander Pechtold. “A relief for the whole world,” announced his Labour counterpart Mariëtte Hamer, while Arie Slob, the parliamentary leader of the orthodox Christian ChristenUnie party declared that Obama’s election to the White House “puts right a centuries old injustice”.

The Americans present at the Kurhaus hotel were slightly bemused by the euphoric mood. “My American friends in the States just don’t believe me when I tell them how avidly these elections have been followed here for the last couple of weeks,” commented American lawyer Gisson Azarnia.

Bold statement

Christian Democrat member of parliament Sybrand van Haersma Buma, sporting a stars-and-stripes tie, tried to explain: “These elections are more important for the world than for the US”.

An admittedly bold statement, but one he stands by nevertheless. “I have never experienced anything like this during a presidential election. This is a lesson in democracy, a special moment which could give a positive impulse to the tense relations between countries around the world,” he said.

Fellow party member Henk Jan Ormel, who was wearing American Senate cuff links for the occasion, was less exuberant at the electoral outcome. Ormel, who is also chairman of the Dutch foreign affairs parliamentary committee, had initially hoped John McCain would win.

Confrontational politics

“The policy of consensus which Obama favours and which is also popular here is not going to be effective enough when dealing with countries such as China,” he said. Ormel thinks the confrontational politics employed by George W. Bush were not so bad. “I think history will judge Bush less harshly than we are doing now,” he said.

It was only when Ormel travelled to the Islamic country of Indonesia two weeks ago as a member of a Dutch parliamentary delegation, that he recognised the potential importance that the election of the hugely popular Obama might have for international relations.

Foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen (Christian Democrat) agrees. Obama’s message of change gives Europe and the US the opportunity to face the problems of the world together, he said.

In fact there was only one Dutch member of parliament that openly carried on hoping for a John McCain victory last night. The trip to Indonesia he made with his colleagues had not changed the mind of the right-wing liberal member of parliament Hans van Baalen.

Unshakeable support

At the Amsterdam cultural centre De Melkweg, another popular venue for election night, Van Baalen explained his unshakable support for George W. Bush’s foreign policy over the past eight years to an audience of young Obama supporters, numerous politicians and commentators.

It was one of the few issues to spark discussion. Van Baalen stressed that he did not have any affinity with the Republicans as such but felt that McCain was the better candidate at a time of crisis.

Although D66 leader Alexander Pechtold had hoped that Obama would win the election, he is conceded that Van Baalen might have point. He said Obama could turn out to be a one-term president and that he may have overplayed his hand “promising too much in a difficult economic climate”.

But the leader of the Green Party Femke Halsema had no time for such doubts: “I have had crush on Obama from the first time I heard him speak. It’s not a rational thing and I have tried to fight it but it’s no good. It was love at first sight,” she confessed.

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