Tax minister Folkert Idsinga resigned on Friday, saying that the decision by far right coalition party PVV to side with the opposition about his financial affairs was a “knife at his throat”.
Earlier this week, a majority of MPs called on Idsinga, a former businessman, to reveal the full scope of his €6 million investment portfolio. Their number included the PVV, whose leader Geert Wilders said Idsinga’s refusal did not look like “good governance”.
Wilders’ words were a direct reference to NSC’s election campaign pledge to create a more robust, transparent system of government where MPs are more accountable to parliament.
In a short press conference, Idsinga, who quit the VVD to join the NSC, said the vote meant he did not have the confidence of parliament. “I cannot function effectively like this and I don’t want to,” he told reporters.
He went on to stress that he had complied fully with the regulations, a point confirmed separately by prime minister Dick Schoof.
He also criticised the way the issue had been dealt with on social media, where Wilders had placed his comment. “This is very damaging to politics,” he said. This is not a way to run a country,” he said. “This will make people from outside The Hague less likely to become involved.”
“It is important to me that people feel confidence in the work that I do,” he said. “And if the biggest coalition party forces me, with a knife at my throat, to publish something which is not necessary, then that is it.”
Tension
There has been mounting tension between Wilders and the NSC, particularly over pledges about how to cut asylum. Earlier this week, acting leader Nicolien van Voorhoven hinted at the party’s opposition to the PVV’s tough line, particularly the decision to try to have parts of Syria ruled to be safe.
Idsinga is the first member of the cabinet to resign since ministers were sworn in in July. He told reporters that he would shortly make more about his financial affairs public, to remove all doubts about his integrity.
SP leader Jimmy Dijk said on social media on Friday evening that three PVV ministers – Marjolein Faber (immigration), Zsolt Szabó (digitalisation) and Vicky Maeijer (long-term care) – all had share portfolios of unknown size and composition.
