During the most heated stage of the (latest) Greek crisis, there was a lot of talk about the way that the terms of the proposed bailout were an affront to Greek democracy, but rather less about what a deal said about democracy in the creditor nations.
Well, here’s a reminder (via Bloomberg):
In September 2012, when [Dutch prime minister] Rutte was seeking a second term….he said in a campaign debate that he would block a third aid package for Greece and that disagreed with the proposition that everything needed to be done to keep the euro area from breaking up. “Countries themselves need to do everything possible to remain in the euro zone,” Rutte said at the time.
That was then.
Now, he’s supporting a bailout.
But:
In July, when the deal with Greece was closed, Rutte said he [was]unhappy with the fact that he would have to break an electoral promise.
Not that unhappy, it seems.