Going Dutch takes on a new meaning for political candidates

AS politicians increasingly shape their policies around what will get them elected, picking who to vote for has become a difficult issue for citizens.

But the Dutch may have come up with a solution.

The Netherlands is always an interesting place with their continuing attempts to be sensible about issues that loom large in people’s lives but are swept under the carpet in other countries.

Just think of drugs that are totally underground everywhere except in the Netherlands, and prostitution that is ignored in most places but which is regulated by the Dutch.

They have not been afraid to debate Islamic issues and their gay population has been not just vocal but very political as well. They tend to be canny and careful with money as in the expression “going Dutch” and this has been an issue for them in their contributions to the EU budget and to participating in peace enforcement duties.

This played a role in bringing down their government in February when one of the coalition partners was not willing to extend the participation of Dutch troops in Afghanistan.

The economy is dominating the election campaign, with each party putting forward their own reform plans and with the emphasis on how it will affect Dutch family budgets.

The conservative VVD party and the outgoing Labour party are tipped to be the largest parties but nobody is entirely sure how they can manage to form a coalition government as their political policies are diametrically opposed.

But even with four-party coalition governments reasonably common and parties promising to deport all foreigners getting considerable support. Dutch politics is reasonably simple compared to their neighbours in Belgium.

In a country the size of Munster with a population of ten million people, they have no less than five governments.

They are divided along linguistic lines – French, Dutch and German. Brussels is seen as multi-linguistic but it is causing the most problems now. French speakers can vote for either French or Flemish parties while the Flems can vote only for Flemish parties – a situation the courts have said must be changed.

But the government with its five-party coalition fell over the issue last month, leaving it unresolved before next month’s elections.

But now perhaps the ever pragmatic Dutch may have come up with a solution – a vote on the grounds of who is most sexy.

A popular TV magazine that reaches almost three million of the 16 million population has been running the campaign, and many of the politicians are delighted with it. The winner will feature on the cover next week.

They invited candidates to turn up and advised them they should dress to look “young and sharp” for the photo shoot to accompany the interview.

They could be on to something here given the success of “young and sharp” looking politicians in the US and Britain recently.

Seven of the eight finalists are women and the only man, believe it or not, is complaining that he was duped into participating. He had no problem dressing “young and sharp” as he knew that was the style of the magazine, but he said he did not know it was a “beauty contest”.

The women, on the other hand, are pleased with the exposure saying it gives them a chance to reach people and get across their point of view.

Academics, drawn into the controversy, say that it is quite normal in this era of television for people to judge others by their looks. Style has been winning over substance for quite some time in western democracies and at least when you vote for looks, what you see is what you get. Mostly.