THE HAGUE - Pieter Omtzigt has finally given clarity about whether or not he plans to become Prime Minister if his NSC achieves the massive win projected in the polls. He does not. He wants to stay in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, as NSC leader, he said in Op1, under pressure from the other political parties. 

“I have a firm preference to remain in the Tweede Kamer, and I have had that preference for a long time,” Omtzigt said. He said he does not yet know who would be Prime Minister for his party if he wins the parliamentary elections. He wants to wait for the results first. 

Poll researcher Asher van der Schelde of I&O Research recently speculated that Omtzigt’s reluctance to say whether or not he wants to be Prime Minister was because he didn’t want to lose voters. “Suppose he does not want to be Prime Minister, then he has to appoint someone, and then there is a chance that people will say that it no longer works for them,” Van der Schelde said with I&O Research’s latest poll. 

Other party leaders criticized Omtzigt’s indecision, saying that voters have a right to know what they’re voting for. 

On Op1, Omtzigt also refuted criticism from VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz, who said he has ultra-conservative ideas. “We don’t want to change the current abortion practice,” he said as an example of not being super conservative. He called Yesilgöz’s criticism a sign that the campaign has become sharper. “The gloves are off.”