The rise of the new party Nieuw Sociaal Contract - NSC (New Social Contract) has rocked the political field in the Netherlands. The SC was created by Pieter Omtzigt, the most popular politician in the Netherlands. Both his old party, the CDA, and other populist parties (the BBB, the socialist SP, and the far-right PVV) have lost major support. However, outside of the Netherlands he is not very well known, not having held high government office. This profile will give a short overview of his rise to popularity, the falling-out with his party, and his politics.
Pieter Omtzigt is a household name in the Netherlands. Known as file-devourer (dossiervreter), pitbull, terrier, opposition stallion (oppositiehengst) and flea in Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s fur. His grassroot rise to prominence in the Christian-democratic CDA was based on both doggedness and local popularity. He has been a thorn in the side of the governing CDA, being one of the most active parliamentarians in the Netherlands, has become the most mentioned politician in the political news, and has been the subject of the biggest scandal of the last government. Rejected by his wolf pack in the CDA, he has been coveted by other parties to join them. Particularly, the new rising star, the populist farmers party BBB was mentioned as a possibility.
Omtzigt entered national politics in 2003 and remained in parliament for the CDA for almost 20 years, when in 2021 he left the party and continued his parliamentary career on his own. During this time, he would be considered a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or opposition stallion, for the trouble he gave the government, which consisted of a coalition including his own party, the CDA. He himself claimed that his actions are part of his responsibility as a parliamentarian to his constituents.
His chances of entering parliament were quite small for years, being placed very low or not at all on the CDA candidate list (51st in 2003, 37th in 2006, 29th in 2010, and was initially refused a place in 2012 but placed 39th after his local chapter set up a campaign for him). However, his doggedness and hard work on his files earned him the nicknames Pieter Pitbull and Dossiervreter. If he took charge of a file he did everything in his power to get to the bottom of the case, even if it was damaging to his own party or if he had to team up with the opposition. This made him powerful enemies in his own party.
Initially he was mostly concerned with files concerning pensions, as well as corruption, bad management, and whistle blowers. His work put prominent CDA members in awkward positions and surely contributed to the decision to refuse him a place on the candidate list in 2012. Another factor was his refusal to work with the populist far-right PVV.
However, his fame only increased as he took charge of high-profile cases, such as the Russian shooting of airplane MH-17, the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and, most recently, the so-called “toeslagenaffaire” (benefits scandal). He and other parliamentarians made public the bad governance and lack of legal rights for people receiving benefits (particularly child benefits), who systematically were falsly accused of fraud, leading to financially ruinous situations for mostly poor families. The benefits scandal was hugely damaging to the last government, leading to the resignation of two of its ministers and finally the resignation of the government as a whole. Opposition leader Lodewijk Asscher of the social-democrat PvdA left politics due to the fallout.
In 2020, Omtzigt tried to turn this prominence into a leadership position in his own party. He has always stated that his politics and loyalties were that of the CDA. However, he continued to fight with coalition partners and his own party over good governance, corruption, and his idealistic nature. To change the party’s trajectory, he joined the 2021 race for party leadership.
His internal campaigning experience from 2012 gave him a good basis. When the CDA leadership decided not to accept his candidacy, he managed a grassroot campaign to give him a place on the list and was the only CDA candidate to receive a direct mandate, mostly from regional voters. In the meantime, his national prominence had grown and he was seen as a serious candidate, particularly for those that opposed the politics the CDA had pursued as a junior coalition partner.
The race had to be decided in a second, head-to-head round between Omtzigt and Hugo de Jonge. In a photo-finish, Omtzigt lost the race against De Jonge with 49.3% vs 50.7%. He later claimed that he was promised the party leadership for the 2021 elections, if De Jonge was not able to lead the party into the elections. However, following a disappointing campaign by De Jonge and an internal campaign, the party leadership was given to Wopke Hoekstra.
Likely in an effort to cement the leadership of Hoekstra, the party leadership started a campaign to discredit the popular Omtzigt. He was described as mentally unstable and was reportedly kept out of the campaign as much as possible. This internal pressure on Omtzigt during the campaign was reported in the Dutch news, following the 2021 elections, giving an explanation for the burn-out of Omtzigt and his announcement to take some time to recover. The internal fighting and the lack of focus on the popular Omtzigt likely contributed to the disappointing results of the CDA during these elections. Omtzigt, however, received almost 350,000 votes for direct mandate, more than a third of the CDA’s total votes. This was unheard of.
Another scandal rocked the whole government, which would include the CDA, CU, and D66 under the leadership of the VVD, before it was even formed. During the government formation, future Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren was photographed leaving the meeting with her notes clearly mentioning Omtzigt with the words “functie elders?” (function elsewhere?). The meaning was clear to everyone: during the negotiations for a cabinet formation between the governing parties, the future of Omtzigt was discussed. Party leader Wopke Hoekstra was threatened by his party colleague, while the other coalition members clearly remembered the damage Omtzigt did to previous governments in pursuit of good governance and the truth. As such, he should be given a place in the government somewhere, it didn’t matter where, to make sure he could no longer pursue misgovernance by other politicians.
Following his break from politics, recovery from his burn-out, and return to the parliament, it was clear that he could not return to the CDA. He continued serving in the parliament without a party until the elections. It was speculated that Omtzigt might join another party, particularly the new protest party, the BBB, was considered by many. The BBB also emphasises the lack of good governance by the governing parties as a main focus. However, in August 2023 he made it clear that he will walk an alternative path: creating the NSC.
The lone wolf would create his own pack. The creation of the NSC has added a heavy-weight to the upcoming elections. According to Ipsos polls, this support mostly cost the populist BBB support, cutting their projected seats in half. This should not be surprising, as both parties are mostly a protest against the status quo, the lack of good governance, transparency, and fairness in politics and societal changes.Considering the origin of the NSC and the political climate, it is to be expected that the messaging is mostly aimed at good governance and legal protection. This would include changes to the electoral system, the legislative procedure, and increased checks and balances. However, other policies are severely lacking as no election manifesto has been created until now. The basic position of the party will be based on Omtzigt politics, as outlined in the basic document.
To understand the new political party it is thus important to look at the personal politics of Pieter Omtzigt. This is mostly that of the CDA, as it has been over the last twenty years, with some differences concerning good governance and a number of policies. As such, the ESC can be expected to approach a Christian-democrat centrist position, emphasising social protection and human rights.
During his career he has not been anti-EU, but definitively skeptical against certain growing EU influences. Appointed as rapporteur for EU pension files in 2012, he fought hard against increasing EU influence on national pension systems. In 2017, he fought for the EU to end its association agreement with Turkey.
The NSC basic document contains the following points:
The economic politics of Omtzigt are relatively mainstream, with an emphasis on transparency and fairness. His biggest departure from the mainstream is his opposition to tax incentives for policy making. This is largely due to their effect on fairness and their susceptibility for being misused by economic interests.
The NSC basic document contains the following points:
The social politics of Omtzigt are heavily influenced by his experience fighting for the protection of poor and struggling families against a Kafkaesk benefits system and lack of legal protection by the state.
The NSC basic document contains the following points:
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