Democracy must be rebuilt from the ground up. That is what former alderman Richard de Mos suspected of fraud in The Hague and his lawyer Peter Plasman will do if they are elected to the House of Representatives.
They are both on their way to the Binnenhof. Richard de Mos comes on foot, while walking through his beloved The Hague, he picks up some litter and puts it in the rubbish bin. Lawyer Peter Plasman arrives, wrapped in leather, on the Harley Davidson. They find each other on the corner of the Plein and, their faces straight, go towards the Knight’s Hall. Two guys from stavast.
With that video, the duo will be presented on Monday morning that will help Code Oranje to get the seats in the house next year. Lots of bullshit for a movement that wants all political innovation to come from below. Because that is what Code Oranje stands for: innovative consultation of citizens, so that they are closely involved in setting the agenda and in decision-making.
Code Oranje has been around for a few years. The movement was founded by Bert Blase, acting mayor of Heerhugowaard. He thought it was five to twelve in politics: confidence is diminishing. It is high time to involve the other 98 percent in decision-making in addition to the 2 percent of Dutch people who are members of a party. A number of mayors and councilors support him in this endeavor. In addition to street interviews and online polls, local parties are an important source of information.
Country look
Time for the next step: taking part in the national elections, “to rebuild democracy from the ground up”. Former PVV MP De Mos, who turned out to be a citizen politician in The Hague’s municipal politics, worked as an alderman for what Blase has in mind: citizen summits, citizen jury, citizen budget, binding referendum. As a local politician he acquired a national image with it.
De Mos had to step down because he is suspected of corruption. Decisions he made as a councilor may have been influenced by donations his party received. Lawyer Plasman assists him in his lawsuit. The two found out about much the same thing. And now Plasman, who participated in the elections in 2017 with the Non-Voters list, is the number two of Code Orange.
During the presentation, De Mos says he is fully committed to a clean, whole and safe Netherlands, as a representative of the people he wants to listen to the inhabitants. At Plasman it is about renovating the rule of law. He cites the exchange with the remaining on of Minister Grapperhaus and the revocation of the corona fines as an example of where things go wrong, as well as the withdrawal of the charges against rapper Akwasi.
Color tears
“I got to know De Mos as a figure who shows how it can be done,” says Plasman. “Acting onorthdox sometimes results in unevenness. Then you need to be adjusted a bit. He is open to that. ”
Plasman wants to adjust that, he says after the official part. “It often concerns imaging. De Mos was very successful in a short time. Then everything comes at you at the same time. You must have an eye for the structure in which you work, in his case the official circuit. “For Plasman, it is important in the corruption case that there was no personal gain. “The Public Prosecution has put incredibly heavily on him.”
If De Mos is still convicted as a Member of Parliament, the agreement is that he will withdraw, says Blase. “Each party receives donations. I have been mayor for ten years now and have seen this kind of thing pass by before. They are usually worded very differently. “De Mos will publish a book about the affair around Christmas.
Should it come to that, both candidates will not be exclusively concerned with the Chamber work. Plasman wants to remain involved in his law firm, De Mos will be for another term as a councilor in The Hague.
Ruud Koornstra, energy commissioner of the Netherlands, is also part of the hard core. “When I heard that Code Oranje wanted to work with De Mos, my first reaction was: that climate denier? I think that’s a jerk, “he says. He is now over. “He has turned greener than I could have hoped.”
Koornstra is part of a group of ten candidates who mutually determine the order of the list. According to pollster Maurice de Hond, 46 percent of the population thinks “there is room for a movement like Code Oranje”.
