Sudden departure of healthcare minister Kuipers still a mystery: ‘An ugly display’ | Domestic

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The VVD is also talking about it shamefully: “Rat behavior”, is how a party cannon characterizes the unexplained flag flight.

The lack of clarity encourages guesswork. In a statement, Kuipers indicated that he was leaving for a top international job, but there is a persistent story in the political corridors that he does not yet have a new job and may therefore have left his ministerial job for nothing.

Party leader Rob Jetten does not pour clear wine about it. He only says that his party colleague’s new position is ‘in sight’. A spokesperson for D66 swears that Kuipers does have a new job, but acknowledges that it is taking longer than expected due to ‘procedures’.

The cabinet finds the issue painful. The fact that the healthcare minister left without a trace just before he had to discuss his ministry’s billion-dollar budget with the House of Representatives does not make things any better. As a result, VVD minister Conny Helder had to take over his work head on.

Even in the cabinet, they still don’t know why Kuipers left so suddenly. “Maybe he had an epiphanic moment?” jokes a government official, referring to Rutte who said this last summer about his decision to quit as Prime Minister.

Rumbling

There had been dissatisfaction about D66 members in the cabinet for some time. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag and State Secretary Gunay Uslu also resigned prematurely. A CDA member recently said that if another D66 member leaves, all CDA members will also leave the cabinet. This is now being nuanced. It was just a sigh of irritation, it sounds now. The fact that the D66 squadron so easily puts aside the national interest is seen as ‘an ugly display’.

There is also criticism at the Ministry of Health about Kuipers’ sudden departure. On the one hand, there is understanding for his choice, given his age and the fact that he has turned down job offers abroad several times. Moreover, the minister was appreciated internally. But there is some grumpiness about the way that happened. Fellow ministers at the ministry, direct employees; they were all given very short notice. Even for his party leader Rob Jetten, Kuipers’ departure came ‘out of the blue’, say insiders.

Succession

In the meantime, no definitive successor has yet been appointed for the minister who is responsible for around one hundred billion euros in annual healthcare expenditure. That is in stark contrast to the succession of Uslu, which was so easy. And this while the deputy of State Secretary for Culture Uslu – Fleur Gräper – has, according to a cabinet colleague, a portfolio for which ‘the daytime activities of a Friday evening are currently sufficient’.

D66 leader Rob Jetten announced on Tuesday afternoon that Kuipers’ successor will be presented ‘very soon’, but that he depends on ‘the agendas of others’ for the precise moment.

The resigned minister himself has been under the radar for weeks. Phone calls are not answered and his voicemail is turned off. That is also the experience of his former cabinet colleagues.