Last sunday the leaders of the four big parties stepped into the ring for their first television debate. The commercial television station RTL4 organized and broadcasted this so-called 'prime minister's debate'. Although in The Netherlands voters only elect candidates for the parliament (Tweede Kamer), it would be an exception if the winning party isn't able to claim the prime minister's office in The Hague. But still it is a bit misleading to call it a 'prime minister's debate'.
So we saw four eager candidates strive for the voter's support. Geert Wilders, the controversial leader of the PVV, a party with an explicit anti-islam agenda, can play the part of the bad one. He is known as a strong debater, who is able to humiliate his (weaker) political enemies. The good one could be Job Cohen, the former mayor of Amsterdam and leader of the Labour Party (PvdA). When he was mayor of Amsterdam he often showed a tendency to nuance problems with the local Dutch Moroccan community instead of emphasizing them. His debating skills were a bit unpolished and like prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende he isn't an excellent speaker. But that evening he was the only who showed a certain willingness to listen to the arguments of his opponents.
The ugly one? Well, prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, the canditate of the Christian-democrats (CDA) has never been considered a leader who is able to make his appearance as well as the policies of his successive governments look sexy.
But the next prime minister could be Mark Rutte, the leader of the liberal-conservative VVD. According to an opinion poll he has won this first televion debate. Now leading most opinion polls he is often called the come-back kid of Dutch politics, because under his leadership the VVD also went through the deepest valleys.
So we saw four eager candidates strive for the voter's support. Geert Wilders, the controversial leader of the PVV, a party with an explicit anti-islam agenda, can play the part of the bad one. He is known as a strong debater, who is able to humiliate his (weaker) political enemies. The good one could be Job Cohen, the former mayor of Amsterdam and leader of the Labour Party (PvdA). When he was mayor of Amsterdam he often showed a tendency to nuance problems with the local Dutch Moroccan community instead of emphasizing them. His debating skills were a bit unpolished and like prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende he isn't an excellent speaker. But that evening he was the only who showed a certain willingness to listen to the arguments of his opponents.
The ugly one? Well, prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, the canditate of the Christian-democrats (CDA) has never been considered a leader who is able to make his appearance as well as the policies of his successive governments look sexy.
But the next prime minister could be Mark Rutte, the leader of the liberal-conservative VVD. According to an opinion poll he has won this first televion debate. Now leading most opinion polls he is often called the come-back kid of Dutch politics, because under his leadership the VVD also went through the deepest valleys.
