Dutch PM wants cabinet with Christian Dems, D66; Right wing pols: Ditch Wilders, embrace environment

VVD leader and current Prime Minister Mark Rutte would like to form a cabinet consisting of his VVD, the CDA and D66, he said on Monday after discussing coalition possibilities with Edith Schippers. "Given the election results", these parties need to take governmental responsibility, he said, but added that "it also depends on what the parties themselves want", NU.nl reports.

The VVD finds it paramount that the next government works on tax cuts for the middle class and reviewing the tax system, something the previous government of VVD and PvdA did not get around to doing. The next government must also work on the energy transition and investing more in elderly and nursing home care, Rutte said.

The VVD leader also stated that he would like to have a majority in both the Tweede Kamer and Eerste Kamer in this government. Over the past four years the VVD and PvdA only had a majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. They therefore had to repeatedly look for support from the opposition to pass anything through the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate. The VVD, CDA and D66 does not have a majority in seats, so a fourth party will be necessary.

VVD alderman in Amsterdam Frank de Grave called on his party to prioritize climate policies in the next government, he said in television program Buitenhof. He thinks that by coming up with their own environmental measures, the VVD can take some wind out of the sails of left-wing parties. "It is unfortunate that this has always been a left-wing topic."

According to him, many VVD members also feel that taking measures against global warming is important. But they would like to link the business world to this fight.

CDA Senator Ria Oomen criticized the political parties for becoming too much like Geert Wilders and his PVV in their election campaigns. "I think that many parties, including my own, have become too much of a Wilders-light. And that does not fit with Dutch society", she said, according to newspaper AD. "I saw it in all parties in the election campaign. They've become Wilders-light when it comes to migration policy and the issuing of passports. We think too much that with that kind of solution, the asylum problem can be solved."

CDA leader Sybrand Buma distanced himself from the Senator's accusations. "The CDA consciously and successfully campaigned on the basis of its own election program. In it the concerns of many Dutch stood central. Giving an answer to those remains the great task of politicians in the coming years", he said to AD.