THE HAGUE, 04/01/03 - Hans Wiegel will at the request of party leader Gerrit Zalm play an active role in the conservative (VVD) election campaign, Wiegel said Friday in an interview with broadcasting organization NOS. This is the first time since his departure from national politics in 1981 that the VVD has awarded Wiegel a prominent role.

Wiegel is also interested in a role after the 22 January elections. "I will discuss this with Zalm. I would like to be the leader of the negotiations leading to a coalition accord. " Wiegel estimates the VVD will win 33 seats, 9 more than it now has in the Lower House. He did not comment on a possible premiership.

Wiegel has for years been a father of the VVD in the background, and is sometimes stern with his offspring. He has no truck with spin doctors, media advisors, and campaign teams; a good politician should trust his intuition and simply say what he stands for. Zalm is on the right tracks as far as this is concerned, but still has something to learn, including the business of sensing what the people want. Socialist Party (SP) leader Marijnissen does this better, according to Wiegel.

Wiegel considers Zalm did not operate too cleverly in the collapse of the government last October. He could rightly be portrayed as the man who deliberately pulled the plug on the VVD-Christian democratic (CDA)-Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) coalition, by being the first to declare that the end was in sight. "CDA party leader Verhagen was much more cunning, keeping a low profile. "

Wiegel says he was phoned by CDA leader Balkenende last summer at his vacation address in France and asked whether Zalm wanted to govern with the CDA and LPF. "I then phoned Zalm and put him in the picture on the problem. After that, they had a good meeting. " Wiegel stresses that Zalm must invest in his relationship with Balkenende, which has not been good up to now.

Wiegel believes the various politicians are still insufficiently demonstrating that the lessons of 15 May have penetrated, when Pim Fortuyn triumphed with his criticisms of the regency culture. There must be more verve in politics again, otherwise the voters will turn their backs on it, he warns. The role of the LPF has nevertheless been played out following the internal shambles which the party has brought about since the murder of its leader, Wiegel concluded.