What are they on about? Untangling the jargon of national politics
Dutch NewsOutsiders often regard the Dutch political system as impenetrable, thanks to its incomprehensible jargon and closed doors. It is the name of the international press centre in The Hague where the prime minister talks to the press and where booze flows freely among journalists, lobbyists and politicians and gossip abounds. A polder is the name given by the Dutch to land reclaimed from the sea or lakes, and polderen derives from the way people would work together to keep the waters at bay. So a classic Trouw headline ‘Politiek Den Haag maakt zich op voor de poppetjes‘ really means: politicians and journalists are looking forward to deciding who will be a minister in the new cabinet. In the Dutch political system anyone not in the government is necessarily a member of the oppositie and they are certainly not likely to gather around Geert.
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What are they on about? Untangling the jargon of national politics
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