Dutch parliament to discuss Cabinet formation status later today

The Dutch lower house of Parliament, the Tweede Kamer, will have its first debate on Wednesday focusing on the election results. The agenda also includes a debate about the report on the status of the Cabinet formation from formation scout Ronald Plasterk. The debate is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. and is expected to end around 4 p.m. Plasterk will attend, with representatives, primarily party leaders, from at least 12 different parties slated to speak.

Typically, the “formation informant” is also appointed at the end of this debate. The formation informant is usually a former politician. Their job is to investigate whether and how a new Cabinet can be formed. The Tweede Kamer will decide the specific mandate for the informateur(s) and set a deadline for completion during this debate.

On Monday, Plasterk announced in his report that he thinks a Cabinet consisting of PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB is possible. “I also think it must be done,” he said in an explanation of his report on the conversations he has had with parties in recent weeks. “The country must be governed.”

It will not be a “piece of cake,” Plasterk knows, particularly pointing to the principled objections that NSC and others have against some PVV proposals. In his report, he suggests holding a “short information round” this month and next. The parties must first see whether they can agree on issues that concern the rule of law.

The parties must then talk in broad terms about important topics like migration, social security, good governance, safety, public finances, climate, nitrogen, and agricultural policy, Plasterk thinks. He proposes that other parties who wish to do so should also be involved in the discussion to “create the broadest possible support for each subject.”

Before the weekend, it became clear that the parties with which PVV leader Geert Wilders would like to forge a right-wing Cabinet are not all eager to start negotiations. Plasterk’s report makes it clear that only NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt is still slamming on the breaks and calling for a “further exploration of the rule of law.”

NSC has difficulty with proposals in the PVV election manifesto, such as banning the Koran and Islamic education. Wilders said during the election campaign that he is prepared to put these wishes “on hold” in order to accommodate other parties. Omtzigt wants to make sure they stay there.

Plasterk does not see other options for achieving a majority coalition. It is up to the PVV, as the largest party and the biggest winner, to take the lead, according to almost all faction leaders in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. NSC and BBB are also big winners, and the VVD, as a large right-wing party, believes party leaders have a “great responsibility” to respect the voters' wishes.

Plasterk proposes that Wilders nominate an informant to lead the next part of the formation process. The former PvdA Minister would not say whether he himself is available for that role. The Tweede Kamer will debate the election results and the results of this exploration on Wednesday. The Tweede Kamer will then likely appoint an informant.