Cabinet formation talks with 4 party leaders today, but fraud concerns linger

Cabinet formation scout Gom van Strien will meet four party leaders on Monday in his search for a coalition. The PVV senator will continue as the scout despite fraud concerns around him. He denied the accusations published by NRC.

PVV leader Geert Wilders is first on the schedule at the end of the morning. Later in the day, Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA), VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz, and Rob Jetten of the D66 will follow. Pieter Omtzigt of NSC could not make it to Monday's meeting due to “agenda technical reasons.” He will visit the scout on Tuesday.

Van Strien was appointed as scout last week. He has been PVV Senator since 2011. He became discredited on Sunday due to reports by NRC that the Senator is accused of fraud. He denies the allegations.

“I have now been in contact with Geert Wilders and the Tweede Kamer president, who appointed me as a scout in consultation with all elected party leaders, and I will continue my work as a scout,” Van Strien said in a statement.

Van Strien is suspected of fraud and bribery by his former employer, Utrecht Hondlings. The company, which filed a police report in March, is owned by Utrecht University and Utrecht Medical Center. Fraud was allegedly committed at the company between 2006 and 2018. The PVV Senator was the general director of Utrecht Holdings between 2000 and 2009. Two others are charged in this case.

The 72-year-old senator says he was informed of the allegations in January. “In my opinion, these are unfounded, and I firmly distance myself from them,” he said. “I understand through a press release that a report has been filed, but I do not know whether this has been done against me nor what the status of the report is.”

The Cabinet formation will be a complicated job. The enthusiasm for working with Wilders’ radical right party is not particularly great.

Wilders remains optimistic. If the leaders of VVD, NSC, and BBB “sit at the table with me and all four of us talk and make reasonable compromises, we will have a coalition agreement within three weeks,” he posted on X on Sunday.

But, several of those potential coalition partners are reluctant. VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz said last week that her party won’t join the Cabinet because it lost ten seats in the election. She will, however, give tacit support to a center-right Cabinet.

Not all VVD members appreciated that position. In a letter submitted to De Telegraaf, former ministers Halbe Zijlstra and Hans Hoogervorst wrote that the VVD should abandon the blockade on participation in a Cabinet with Wilders.

During the campaign, Pieter Omtzigt of NSC said that he had difficulty working with the PVV. The fact that the PVV program goes against the constitution on points makes cooperation very challenging for him. He has indicated that he is in favor of a minority Cabinet.

Wilders spoke this weekend of a “political bag of tricks” that has been opened. He said he would remain “reasonable” and “continue to moderate.” If it doesn’t work out, he thinks he’ll get even more votes next time “because the genie is out of the bottle and won’t go back in.”