Dutch ex-spy chief Dick Schoof named as PM-candidate
After 14 years with Mark Rutte as Dutch Prime Minister, the four parties forming the new Dutch coalition have nominated a former domestic intelligence chief as his successor.
Dick Schoof, 67, expressed his commitment to serving all Dutch citizens, not just those from the four parties that nominated him.
“This is an incredibly intense moment for me. I never expected to be asked to stand here,” he told reporters.
Anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders won the Dutch election last November and reached a coalition deal with three other parties after agreeing not to pursue the prime minister position.
According to the 25-page deal, Mr. Wilders’ Freedom Party and the other three coalition leaders will remain in parliament and out of the cabinet, with about half of the ministers being selected from outside politics.
They have pledged to implement the “strictest-ever asylum regime,” along with tougher controls on migrants and international students and stringent limits on family reunifications for refugees.
Although Mr. Wilders had dropped some of his party’s plans, such as banning the Quran, before the election, he maintained certain immigration policies that will likely create tensions with some of the Netherlands’ EU partners.
The conservative-liberal VVD, the centrist New Social Contract, and the Farmer Citizens Movement (BBB) have all agreed to the deal.
Dick Schoof, who has spent his entire career in public service, is currently the most senior official in the justice ministry. He previously led the Netherlands’ AIVD domestic security service, the counter-terrorism agency, and the immigration service.
He said his focus on the rule of law would help him govern the Netherlands. His experience in the justice ministry may also help him navigate some of the coalition’s biggest ambitions.
Mr Schoof said he knew Geert Wilders “a little” but stressed he had been appointed by four parties that had a big majority in parliament. Asked whether he or the far-right party leader would be the boss, he said: “There is only one prime minister and that will be me.”
He rejected outright any suggestion that he might act as if he was on Geert Wilders’ leash but admitted to being surprised by his nomination for the top job.
In a recent interview, Dick Schoof was asked how the election result might affect his role in the civil service.
“It is a sign that many people do not have confidence in the government’s ability to solve problems, and perhaps not in each other either,” he told the Green Amsterdammer. “And of course, it is not the case that just because a quarter of voters back the [Freedom Party], then suddenly a quarter has got the whole thing wrong.”
Although he was a member of the Labour Party for decades until only a few years ago, he told reporters on Tuesday he no longer felt any affinity to it.
His appointment came after the first choice for prime minister, Ronald Plasterk, had to pull out after Dutch media reports questioned his integrity.
The next step for the prospective prime minister will be to assemble a ministerial team, along with the man leading the process, Richard van Zwol. A cabinet could be in place by the end of June ahead of the summer recess.
