Dear Editor,
On page 7 of The Daily Herald of Tuesday, January 29, I finally found an article concerning the ethical behaviour of our Dutch politicians. This was a list of the most scandal-hit political parties in the Netherlands for the sixth year in a row. If the top three were mentioned, which adds up to 23 scandals, I think it would be fair to mention that the list is longer and that the average scandals involving politicians is at least two-plus per month.
This could be an explanation for the reason the Dutch are constantly extra vigilant of our politicians. I see it as two-fold which could be explained in two known sayings: “Zoals de waard is, vertrouwt hij zijn gasten” (one judges other people’s character by one’s own) and/or “misery likes company.”
On a scale of one to ten, where would the integrity of the Dutch government be as a consequence of the political integrity scandals? Because we know how vigilant Van Raak and Bosman are, I was wondering if any one of them were instrumental in uncovering any of the 23-plus scandals?
I am not sure, so I would like to know in what capacity is Van Raak questioning MP Peterson? I am open to a lesson in civics.
Russell A. Simmon
