Percijn van Haeringen

Social studies, A4B, Mr. van Erve

 

Van der Steur resigns as minister of Safety and Justice

 

Minister van Der Steur quits his job as minister of safety and justice. He announced this during the Teevendeal debate in the parliament last week.

Van der Steur is already the third minister who is leaving because of this deal. On December 2nd 2015 there was an earlier conflict about the Teevendeal. In 2000 Teeven made a secret deal with drugs dealer Cees H. to give back the 4.7 million guilders without notifying that this had been done. a politician made a secret deal with drugs dealer Cees H. in which he got back his 4.7 billion without the tax authorities knowing. When van der Steur became minister, he lied about this like it never happened.

He says he has no trust in the way the parliament works anymore. The reasons van der Steur decided to stop are partly because of the ‘ticket affaire’ but he was already having his doubts before the affaire. It was just the last drop. As said, the reason he stepped up is because he lost trust in the parliament. And the parliament lost trust in him. It was already the 5th time he was on the edge of having to leave. Finally he decided to resign himself. As he literally said (translated from Dutch):

‘I see, notice and feel that my answers are not being considered as relevant any longer. Because many already have made their political judgment about me”.

However, as the Algemeen Dagblad reports it, van der Steur did not have much of a choice. He was told he could better leave.

Stef Blok will become the new minister of Safety and Justice. According to Geert Wilders of the PVV, van der Steur made the right decision with his resignation. During the Teevendeal debate prime minister Mark Rutte supported van der Steur. He said van der Steur has had his battle and his mind could not be changed. So he left.

Of course, van der Steur did not resign out of the blue. People have no trust in him anymore and without trust you cannot act well as a minister. Within the Hague, other political parties have different thoughts about van der Steur leaving. Some found their peace in this, but others like for example Sybrand Buma, chairman of the delegation in the parliament of the CDA, do not. They just want the government to finish the teevendeal and be transparent about it.