Dutch Press Review Monday 7 May 2012
Politics and football again dominate this morning's Dutch dailies: voters in Greece and France delivered an emphatic ‘no’ to austerity measures in Sunday's elections; closer to home, the race for the leadership of the Christian Democrats is heating up. The upcoming Dutch election may be a sober affair as many parties, just like the electorate, are short of cash. Doctors are being replaced by smartphone apps and Feyenoord fans celebrated as their team secured second place in the Premier League and a spot among Europe's elite.
New dawn for Europe?
"Voters punish incumbents," headlines Trouw underneath a photo of jubilant Socialist Party supporters at La Bastille in Paris. According to the paper, the French and Greeks have had enough of austerity measures and "sent Sarkozy home and dumped the Greek centre parties."
De Telegraaf writes, "euro zone strained by anti-EU voting in France and Greece." According to the populist paper, "the anti-EU vote in Greece and France has piled even more pressure on the already wobbly euro zone."
"Everything must change," writes nrc. next on its front page and characterises the results of both elections as "a vote against the EU." De Volkskrant's front-page headline echoes the sentiment, calling the results, "a slap in the face for Brussels." AD says the election results are "a political earthquake" and people have had enough of austerity measures.
CDA race
AD covers the race for the leadership of the Christian Democrat party (CDA) in some detail: it will be the first time that ordinary party members get to choose their leader and there are now 12 people vying for the position.
The paper writes that the eventual winner has to be "a true Christian Democrat who personifies the party's new direction while winning back disaffected voters."
The paper profiles six of the leading candidates but doesn't really pick a winner. The party is not doing well in the polls and nrc.next writes: "12 leaders competing for 11 parliamentary seats, that's going to be interesting."
No money
The coming election could be a fairly sober affair: AD reports that the VVD and CDA would face serious financial difficulties if they had to go out on the campaign trail right now. An investigation by the paper has revealed that both parties have far less cash in the campaign coffers than they did for the 2010 elections.
The paper writes that the VVD will have to do some serious fundraising in order to run an election campaign. The conservative party spent at least €2.5 million at the last election, which was far more than the other parties. AD says, "the influence of all that money is impossible to measure, but the VVD did win the election."
Dr Smartphone
De Telegraaf says smartphones are increasingly being used as a substitute for a visit to the doctor's. An app capable of diagnosing skin cancer is being launched today; the app compares a photograph of a mole or birthmark to thousands in a database and can determine whether it’s cancerous.
Melanoma Association spokesperson Nelleke Gruis tells the paper, "one in six Dutch people will contract skin cancer at some point. It is essential to check your skin regularly for any changes. We developed the app because many people aren't sure what their skin looked like last time they checked. By regularly taking photos of moles and birthmarks, people can be certain to pick up on any changes."
The app advises people to photograph suspect moles regularly in order to chart any changes and advises them to see their GPs if the results are cause for concern.
Delirious
"Feyenoord fans celebrate," headlines AD on its front page under a photograph of thousands of fans cheering as the Feyenoord coach pulls in Rotterdam's Kuip stadium.
Feyenoord beat Heerenveen by 3-2 on Sunday to secure second place in the Dutch Premier League as well as a place in the Champions League. According to De Telegraaf, Feyenoord’s players and fans celebrated second place as if they had won the title.