Wilders hints Dutch coalition will fall if emergency asylum measure is not implemented

Dutch far-right political party PVV is continuing to insist that the Cabinet must declare the asylum situation in the Netherlands to be a state of emergency, and use extreme powers to sidestep Parliament and force a much stricter approach to limit the number of asylum seekers coming into the country. Such emergency measures must be introduced "one way or another," as agreed by the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB in their coalition agreement, PVV leader Geert Wilders emphasized.

"If we don't get that, the Cabinet will have a problem." The use of the authoritarian approach is controversial, as many critics, including coalition party members and constitutional law experts, do not believe a true state of emergency exists. Wilders said it will be a "difficult story" if another method is chosen to arrive at asylum measures. "I don't know if we will happily continue for much longer."

The Cabinet will have to decide in the coming weeks whether to resort to such emergency measures to tighten asylum rules. It can also trigger an emergency procedure to have a law expedited, debated and passed in both houses of Dutch Parliament. This issue is leading to rising tensions within the coalition parties.

The NSC does not think that the Cabinet will be able to find a sound justification for using the emergency crisis measures. Such a legal basis is a mandatory condition for that party. But as far as the largest party, the PVV, is concerned, an emergency declaration must be made anyway.

Wilders repeatedly emphasized on Tuesday that the route via essentially declaring a state of emergency is written in the coalition agreement. “So all this is nice and all, but we have already agreed to it.” The PVV leader is increasing the pressure but did not specifically say whether he would pull his party support from the Cabinet if, for example, pushing a bill through Parliament with an emergency procedure is chosen.

He does not favor that option. Like his PVV colleague, Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber, Wilders fears that the Tweede Kamer will delay the legislative procedure with technical briefings and rounds of written question and debate.

He also contradicted Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who said earlier that a decision had not yet been made. Wilders points out that not only did the coalition agree on the route via emergency declaration in the main coalition agreement, but that the Cabinet also included the measure in its long-term platform.

NSC emphasized that the coalition agreement states that the decision to do so must be taken with a proper approach. The coalition party assumes this is not possible and another route will prove necessary.

The Council of Ministers, which is led by Schoof, still has to decide whether to invoke Articles 110 and 111 of the Aliens Act. These articles allow the Cabinet to unilaterally introduce stricter rules due to "exceptional circumstances."