Political hubbub in the Netherlands is set to resume now that the Libyan air crash which claimed dozens of Dutch lives is no longer top news. Political parties are restarting their election campaigns this week. It’s going to be a classic election battle between left and right.

One issue sticks out head and shoulders above the rest in this campaign: the cuts. The economic crisis has dented the Dutch government’s finances. The Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis reckons 29 billion euros of savings will have to be made by 2015. That means deep cuts. The political parties, however, have different ideas about the size of the savings required.

Cuts
It’s going to a text-book election battle between left and right. The Socialist Party, Green Left and the Labour Party, on the left of the political spectrum, want far fewer cuts in the next period of government than the parties on the right.

Labour is aiming at savings of about 10 billion euros, while the conservative VVD wants to slash 20 billion from government expenditure. The leftist parties fear that too swingeing cuts will threaten economic recovery. People’s spending power will diminish while, at the same time, unemployment will rise. The left argues this is a recipe for disaster.

The VVD and Christian Democrats think it’s the government’s job to demonstrate good housekeeping. It has cost billions to prop up the banks and boost employment, and that public debt has to be clawed back somehow. The right-wing parties point to the huge amounts the government is paying in interest-accruing loans. They warn that the economy must not be allowed to slip into bankruptcy.

Mortgages
Where do the parties want to make their cuts? Here too, there are many classic divisions between left and right. The left-wing parties want cuts in defence spending. The necessity of buying the new Joint Strike Fighter jet has been the subject of debate in the Netherlands for years. The issue is now being raised by left-of-centre parties in the context of the imminent cuts. They also argue that taxes on the highest incomes should be raised. Mortgage tax-relief for home owners, for years a taboo subject with Dutch politicians, has also been put - back - on the agenda.

These measures are all rejected by those on the right. They prefer cuts in the civil service - or in social security. The development co-operation budget, equal to 0.8 percent of the Netherlands’ gross national product, is also being targetted. The VVD says it could be halved. Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) wants to scrap it altogether. On the right, only the Christian Democrats want to leave it as it stands.

Islam and integration
Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 election slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid!” applies to the Netherlands in 2010. Issues such as integration and security are seen as far less important just now. That is bad news for Mr Wilders and his PVV colleagues, as these two issues provide the mainstay of their manifesto. The party is going down in the polls although it still stands to gain many more MPs than its present showing in parliament. Its fall in popularity may benefitt the VVD, which as well as boasting a strict integration policy is seen as a party in whose hands the economy is safe.

Forming a coalition after 9 June is likely to prove hugely difficult. According to the opinion polls, neither right nor left will have a majority in the next parliament. Parties on the left have also ruled out governing with Mr Wilders’ PVV. The VVD says its differences with Labour on the cuts are too major to allow the two parties to work together. However, the differences were also great in 1992 when a left-right coalition, between Labour, the VVD and the D66 democrats, was eventually formed. This was called the purple coalition – a mix of red (left) and blue (right).

Splits
The parties can take comfort from the fact that election day, 9 June, is still some way off. That is the day when they will have to do the traditional Dutch splits: show the electorate what makes them different from their rivals but, at the same time, keep their options open for co-operation with possible coalition partners. Because, in the end, the political parties all need each other.