Dutch politician Pieter Omtzigt, for years an unaffiliated yet popular member of parliament, will lead a newly founded party into the upcoming elections in November.
In doing so, the former CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal) leader has shuffled the cards in Dutch politics, already known for being a somewhat crowded field.
Omtzigt announced his decision in a Sunday, August 20th, interview with Tubantia. Almost simultaneously, he published a separate announcement on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
“We have been preparing for a while,” Omtzigt told the newspaper. The party, only founded the day before, is called ‘New Social Contract’ (NSC). While it is expected to grow, its list of politician members is currently slim.
But since Omtzigt’s announcement, some have already made the switch.
On August 21st, Eddy van Hijum, until recently a deputy in the province of Overijssel and a former city councilor in Zwolle, said he would be trading Omtzigt’s old party, the CDA, for ‘New Social Contract’.
Two years ago, Omtzigt wrote a book titled “A New Social Contract,” which now serves as the foundation for his new party’s political program. While a full program is not yet available, a 40-page “jumping off point” is already online.
Core pillars are “good governance” and “livelihood security,” while a third is “sensible international cooperation,” which includes skepticism about the euro’s sustainability.
According to Omtzigt, the Netherlands currently does not serve its citizens well in the area of social security—specifically, he wants to invest in affordable food and to provide solutions to the Netherlands’ acute housing shortage.
Omtzigt also wants to implement the creation of a Constitutional Court and a new electoral system, which would employ a system of provincial electoral districts, instead of national ones, to decide who can sit in parliament as MP.
An August 21st poll by RLT Nieuwspaneel indicates that 79% trust Omtzigt as a politician—a score that offers him a comfortable lead over other party leaders, including VVD’s Yeşilgöz and BBB’s van der Plas.
Even more telling: A third of those polled are seriously considering voting for the new party, while 11% say they are already convinced they will vote for New Social Contract (NSC).
Likely electoral success for the new party brings with it an even more fragmented Dutch political landscape.
Parties on the Right have the most to fear, as Omtzigt will not only compete with center-right parties such as VVD, BBB, and CDA but also with those further on the right (PVV, JA21, FVD, BVNL).
Should it come to talks to form a coalition, in his interview with Tubantia, Omtzigt has already ruled out any cooperation with Geert Wilders’ nationalist PVV and Thierry Baudet’s FVD.
While Omtzigt’s party could very well make a splash in the next elections, he says he aims for the party to grow slowly so it does not overextend itself. In addition, he does not aspire to a position in a new cabinet, nor does he seek the premiership.
Instead, Omtzigt seeks to remain in parliament, where he will represent his party as its leader.
Omtzigt sat in parliament for the CDA for a long time but left the party two years ago after an internal party spat. Since then he has been sitting as an independent MP.
Recently, the CDA in vain tried to restore ties, but was rebuffed by Omtzigt, who at the time said that “the chapter with the CDA is closed.”
During his career, the 49-year-old Omtzigt built himself a reputation as a hardworking MP, which paid him dividends in terms of popularity with Dutch voters.
Together with Renske Leijten of the SP (Socialist Party), Omtzigt played a leading role in exposing 2020’s benefits scandal, during which tens of thousands of parents were unfairly accused of having committed fraud by misusing child benefits. Due to the debts the parents incurred as a result, many fell into poverty.
