Formation leader meeting with 4 largest parties today; Has to make up for false-start

Cabinet formation scout Ronald Plasterk must try to make up for the delay in the exploration process from today. The former PvdA Minister expressed hope to present a report next week, after which the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, can debate it. Plasterk will meet with the leaders of the four largest parties on Wednesday.

The formation process made a false start after PVV scout Gom van Strien stepped down. He did this because he is linked with fraud at his previous employer, NRC reported over the weekend. Van Strien initially said he planned to stay on but decided to leave the field on Monday.

Plasterk will start working in earnest on Wednesday. He will receive PVV leader Geert Wilders in the morning. After that, he will meet with Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA), Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD), and Pieter Omtzigt (NSC).

Plasterk will look at how the rest of the exploration will go “day by day.” He has invited all prospective party leaders for an interview. Stephan Baarle (DENK) has already rejected the invitation. He does not want to participate “in the fact that the initiative lies with an extreme right-wing political movement that wants to take away the rights of over 1 million Dutch Muslims.”

The often outspoken column Plasterk writes for De Telegraaf raised eyebrows among some party leaders. For example, in his last column, he already expressed a strong preference for a coalition of the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB. D66 leader Rob Jetten has “some questions” about Plasterk’s views.

Plasterk will stop his column while working as the formation scout. He further assured at a press conference that the conversations with him are confidential and will not end up in a Telegraaf column.

Plasterk was Minister for the PvdA twice in the past, but as a columnist, he was also very critical of his party. Plasterk also often criticized other left-wing parties.