The high price of the political crisis

Balkenende and Bos were each other’s main rivals in the 2006 elections, and they never really ceased to be

'Working together, living together' was the motto of Jan Peter Balkenende’s fourth cabinet, which began on February 22, 2007. It has failed to live up to it. On Saturday morning the inevitable happened: the cabinet made up of Christian democrats, Labour and the orthodox Christian party ChristenUnie fell. And even that didn’t go smoothly.

The Dutch military mission to the Afghan province of Uruzgan was this cabinet’s final undoing, but it could have tripped over any of a number of issues. The Davids committee report, which lambasted the run-up to the Iraq war is an example. The disagreement over the purchase of JSF fighter jets another. It could have been the budget cuts currently being prepared to boost the Dutch economy.

A cabinet doesn’t stand a chance when there is no will to go on, unity is nowhere to be found and the two most important leaders – Balkenende and Labour leader Wouter Bos - are unable to rise above themselves. It is embarrassing for the prime minister that he has now led four cabinets, involving six parties other than his own, to their downfall. There is good reason to doubt his qualities as a leader.

Balkenende and Bos were each other’s main rivals in the 2006 elections, and they never really ceased to be. The premature elections, the result of this crisis, will most likely bring an end to the two men’s leadership of the two largest political parties. An accomplishment if there ever was one.

The cabinet had a difficult start. Both its coalition agreement in February 2007 and the policy programme the following June, made it seem that it was postponing major decisions. An impression that has proved hard to shake in the years that followed.

In retrospect, it seems this government has accomplished little. In its defence, it fell victim to a worldwide financial crisis for which it cannot be blamed.

The cabinet’s first response to the crisis was commendable. It can also take a bow on instituting an unpopular but necessary measure by trying to raise the age of eligibility for state pensions, even if the outcome of this decision is partially flawed.

It has now become doubtful the measure will go through. The cabinet was still a long time away from officially agreeing over the matter. The same goes for other issues still on the table, like health care reform and a planned 35 billion euros in cutbacks – an unprecedented operation.

Necessary measures will now be postponed, even though the economy is pining for policy that will aid recovery. That is the high price of this political crisis.