Cabinet formation leader meeting with leaders of six largest parties today

Cabinet formation informant Kim Putters hopes to get the formation moving again by holding discussions with almost all political leaders in a marathon session of two days. On Monday, he will speak to the leaders of the six largest factions: PVV, BBB, GroenLinks-PvdA, NSC, D66, and VVD. The other party leaders will meet with him on Tuesday, except for Stephan van Baarle of Denk, who has declined the invitation.

Putters will first receive PVV leader Geert Wilders in his office in the building of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. He will speak successively with Caroline van der Plas (BBB), Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA), Pieter Omtzigt (NSC), Rob Jetten (D66), and Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD).

The formation reached an impasse after the talks led by Ronald Plasterk with negotiators from the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB. NSC leader Omtzigt thought Plasterk had provided financial documents too late and was displeased. It made no sense for him to continue talking, and his party pulled out. Later, Omtzigt added that the financials were the final straw, and there were more irritations, for example, about reproachful social media posts that flew back and forth.

Moreover, the NSC negotiators did not want to participate in a majority Cabinet with the PVV. They thought the distance between the two parties was too great regarding the Constitution and the rule of law. The four parties had made agreements on a “joint baseline” that Omtzigt also agreed to, but due to statements from the past and the PVV’s election manifesto, he had no confidence in it. NSC appeared willing to support a minority Cabinet of these parties.

The Tweede Kamer was on holiday last week, and Putters has not yet had any formal conversations with party leaders since taking up the role of informant. He used that time to speak with experts, experienced administrators, and (former) politicians about, among other things, the alternatives to a majority Cabinet.

A frequently mentioned alternative is an extra-parliamentary Cabinet. That is a Cabinet that works with an outline government program and must look for changing majorities in the Tweede Kamer. Omtzigt is in favor of this. Yeşilgöz also recently said she prefers this option. Opinions differ as to what exactly such a Cabinet means. Putters also hoped to gain clarity about this.