Potential right-wing coalition starts next phase of government formation talks
The next phase of the Cabinet formation talks starts today. For the first time since the elections in November, the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB will begin negotiating the content of a concise coalition agreement. “We have a lot of work to do in a short time,” formation leaders Elbert Dijkgraaf and Richard van Zwol said Wednesday night after a first preparatory meeting, NOS reports.
This morning, the two will meet with Kim Putters, who led the previous phase of negotiations, which mainly focused on what form the potential right-wing Cabinet would take. After that, Dijkgraaf and Van Zwol will meet with the leaders of the four parties to set up work meetings. “We will look at how we can work as effectively as possible and which topics we should start with.”
The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, gave the two new formation leaders eight weeks to figure out whether the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB could come to a coalition agreement for an “extra-parliamentary program Cabinet.” It is the first time that substantive negotiations will take place. Putters left them with a list of topics the parties should make concrete agreements about. Notably, climate change is not on that list.
Van Zwol and Dijkgraaf have a tough job ahead of them. PVV leader Geert Wilders said he is preparing for “tough” negotiations. “I have to show my voters that we have achieved recognizable points on all important topics,” Wilders told the media after a parliamentary debate on the formation process so far. “Otherwise, the festivities won’t continue.”
NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt also spoke of significant differences between the four parties during the debate. “We are four completely different parties. Sometimes it will be two against two, sometimes three against one,” he said. “Then you’ll have to end up in the middle.”
During the debate, the four parties tried to convince the rest of parliament that they were continuing together because someone had to take “responsibility” for running the country. The mutual relationships between the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB are pretty strained after the party leaders lashed out against each other on social media during their first round of talks, which ended when Omtzigt abruptly pulled his NSC out. In the second round of negotiations, the parties agreed that all four party leaders would remain in parliament and not take Cabinet positions. But since then, Wilders has repeatedly groused about not being allowed to become Prime Minister.
In principle, Dijkgraaf and Van Zwol have until mid-May to draw up an outline of the substantive coalition agreement. They told Tweede Kamer president Martin Bosma that they’ll strive to get it done faster, aiming to have something ready before the May holidays, which start in five weeks.
