Time alone will tell
by
Marcel Van Silfhout |
The political spectrum in The Netherlands has swung to the left
It’s not really a matter of ‘The king is dead. Long live the king,’ but somewhere the good old French phrase (Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!) matches quite well with the change of leadership of the Dutch Labour Party. A few weeks ago I wrote about the replacement of democracy with a ‘mediacracy’: not the democratically chosen politicians ruling The Netherlands, but the populist, fact-free media such as flat-earth talk-shows and riot-hunting TV-reporters.
In the 1960s, then US president Nixon was a victim of the power of TV. He lost his debate against Kennedy. Job Cohen, the decent old-fashioned Dutch Labour Leader, once a popular and successful mayor of Amsterdam, has resigned. He couldn’t cope with the massive amount of criticism. Cohen wasn’t able to deliver good sound-bites, one-liners and other sorts of modern communication which are needed in the new era of mediacracy. It’s amazing; when Cohen was introduced as the new Labour leader, the socialists in The Netherlands thought that now they could win the elections. They did not. And Cohen became immensely unpopular.
This is another proof of my premise that we’re in the midst of a mediacracy-era and it can be right. Diederik Samson, a young father and ambitious MP has been chosen as Cohen’s successor with a clear 54 per cent of the votes. Therefore, Samson is an enthusiastically appointed Labour leader. If there’s something in which Samson is good in, it‘s in one-liners and sound-bites. Next to that, he’s known as an environmental activist ( he is campaigner for Greenpeace) and a decisive politician.
I’ll never forget how I accidently filmed Cohen with a small camera. When Cohen left the Dutch parliament, he stepped out of the door, looked to the right and the left, stood still for a moment and then hesitantly walked to the right. But, just shortly after that, he turned around and started to walk the other side. The scene was hilarious. I knew that this shot might be devastating for Cohen, a socialist leader not knowing if he will turn to the right or left!’ I don’t know why, perhaps it was mercy, but I never used or sold these shots.
I’m quite sure; such a shot will not be filmed of Samson. Although I’m not happy with the replacement of democracy by a mediacracy, I’m glad that Labour has a new leader who fits better with the spirit of time. Just recently the Labour party had chosen a new chairman: the authentic old-style leftist socialist Hans Spekman. Knowing him personally (Spekman was a strong and successful alderman in Utrecht where I worked as reporter) it’s not a surprise that Labour will go for an absolute, polarised leftist opposition against the right-wing xenophobic and neoliberal Dutch minority coalition party ruled by Liberals, Christian Democrats and Geert Wilders far-right Party for Freedom.
One thing, for the time being, is sure too: Samson brought back élan and real politics to his Labour Party. Samson is not afraid of the camera, nor is he frightened of fighting Geert Wilders. It has not really said but the fact is that Cohen lost his political stature due to his stiff and clumsy dealing with provocateur Wilders. Samson isn’t an old-style decent governor like Cohen, but a clever, well-educated ‘street-fighter’ and media-expert. Therefore: promising.
The political spectrum in The Netherlands has swung to the left. The first polls showed that Labour won some seats and that the Liberals have lost their leading position. Only time can tell if Samson will succeed strengthening his once leading party. The populist SocialistPparty, lead by the immense popular Emile Roemer, has (virtually) become the biggest in The Netherlands with 30 MP in the polls.
In France the struggle between Sarkozy and the socialist Hollande is also influenced by a populist leftist party leader. Are we witnessing a swing to the populist left in the whole of Europe, or will this just be a short postponement of the rise of populist right-wing parties with a xenophobic agenda driven by nationalism, anger and chagrin? Again, only time will tell. The other worry intrigues me even more: how to get our democracy back? How to conquer the undemocratic mediacracy? How to get our societies returned to normality, to vision, to wisdom and to prosperity? Once more, I’m afraid I have to say it again: ‘only time will tell.’
Oman Tribune |
Other comment for Marcel Van Silfhout
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