Verkiezingstijd (Election time)

Zo VRIJ! Als een aardbei.

Translated as...

SO FREE! Like a Strawberry.

Election slogans are certainly a bit more fun in the Netherlands.

On the other hand, the UK politicians always make up some rubbish like:

 “Working together for a better future”

Yawn.

But imagine voting in a general election in March and still not having a government by the end of the year.

Impossible? 

Nope.

Because, recently in the Netherlands, this is exactly what has happened.  And yet no one really seems to be that bothered about it. 

It’s an accepted part of the political process in the NL.

In the UK there would be uproar.  

Well, it simply wouldn’t happen.  

The two party ‘first past the post’ system in the UK generally means, barring the odd occasion of Liberal Democrat or DUP coalition excitement, the result and next government is known within hours. 

One dominant ruling party emerges, with usually enough majority to push through whatever policies they want.

With absolutely no-one or nothing to stop them.

The new leader would then sweep into Downing Street, within hours of the nation seeing broadcasted pictures of a teary-eyed outgoing PM exiting No 10 for the last time.

Removal vans already loaded up around the back.

It can be brutal in the UK. 

And their ‘first past the post’ system, means that huge swathes of the population don't have a voice. 

If you live in a ‘safe seat’ and you always vote for the other guy, you are never going to be heard.

However, here in the Netherlands, the Dutch use proportional representation which means that everyone gets a voice.

Which is great.

But, in reality, does anyone really get what they want?  

Because in the NL, there is always a coalition government.

Involving a lot of parties. 

All with very different agendas.

For example, 18 parties won seats in the Tweede Kamer at the last election with nearly 40 being on the ballot paper.

A ballot paper which, incidentally, is as long as a telephone directory. 

There are stories of people taking so long in the voting booth to choose from the long list of candidates, that voting for the next election has already begun.

And a lot of these candidates belong to single-issue parties. Such as the ‘50plus’ party.  

Life begins at 50 for this lot. 

They always win a seat, presumably the nice comfortable reclining one with a foot rest.  So they can have a nice snooze when the debates go on too long. 

Although the Dutch model prevents one single ruling party from being too powerful and going off the rails, it conversely becomes very difficult to actually achieve anything because of the many diverse parties in with a shout of co-governing.

And it can take months to reach this point.

Months. And. Months.

Therefore, the result of the election in NL is really just the beginning of a very long road.

Once the election has come and gone, time ticks by.  

Whole seasons come and go.  

The Dutch people have long since lost interest in the distant election and just got on with their lives. 

Then, finally, one day, white smoke is spotted coming from a chimney in The Hague.

And everyone then vaguely remembers there was some sort of election a long, long time ago.

Usually, agreement is reached between 4-5 parties to form the next government.  Generally this will include parties from both the left and the right of the political spectrum.

But what you will invariably end up with (after a lifetime of negotiations) is a watered-down compromise of an election promise, designed to please all members of the coalition and to get them on board. *

However, the key policies that people voted on are either missing or watered down.

And, inexplicably, some of the policies will only be introduced after three years.

So, given that it has now taken almost one year after the election to form the government and a reported further three years to actually start implementing any key policies, it bring us right up around to the next election.

Therefore nothing will probably be done.  No new laws.

And then they’ll go through another election process all over again.

Time to then dig out the slogans once more.

“Minder belasting, meer bitterballen!”

Less tax, more bitterballen!

Now, that’s a sound policy!  Why can’t everyone agree on that?

* The negotiations follow the ‘Poldermodel’. This is centred on harmony and agreement, defined by the Dutch age-old struggle of keeping the the low-lying lands from the constant threat of the water.