Forum voor Democratie wins most seats but is shut out of every Dutch municipal coalition

Forum voor Democratie captured 299 new seats — more than any other party — in last month’s municipal elections across more than 100 Dutch municipalities, roughly quintupling its 2022 total. Yet in none of the places where coalition talks have advanced is the party being recommended to join a new local government, an NOS analysis shows.

In 94 of those FVD municipalities, informateurs have now spoken with every council party and issued formal advice. Not one of those recommendations includes Forum voor Democratie in the new coalition.

The main obstacle is reportedly the party’s uncompromising refusal to accept any new asylum reception places, even though the Spreidingswet requires every municipality to do its part. Other recurring FVD demands, including the introduction of a corrective referendum that would let voters overturn council decisions afterward, have also created deadlocks. Several informateurs say these positions have effectively put the party “out of the game.”

Other factors cited against FVD include its lack of governing experience, questions about its stability, and the way some of its newly elected council members speak about colleagues on social media.

Helmond is the only possible exception so far. Although the informateur there also advised against including Forum, the largest party, Helder Helmond says it is willing to keep negotiating with everyone. “We want to continue talking with everyone on content,” faction chairman Louis van de Werff said.

FVD became the largest party in both Velsen and Epe on March 18 but remains locked out there as well. In Velsen, where Forum won more than 20 percent of the vote, only one other party is open to possible cooperation. The other eight parties refuse. “The right-radical sound and ideology of Forum do not fit with us,” said Nathanael Korf, faction leader of Velsen Lokaal, which holds five seats.

In Epe, FVD Senator Eric Kemperman, who served as informateur, expressed clear disappointment in his report. He said he felt forced to recommend a solution that “does not do justice to the pure election result” because “the winner is being excluded.” Kemperman said other parties offered no good substantive reasons against working with Forum.

They spoke instead of a “call for rest, stability, and continuity,” but he doubted “whether that was the explicit wish of the voter with this election result.” The CDA, VVD, SGP-ChristenUnie, and two local parties are now negotiating a coalition without FVD in the Gelderland municipality.

Before the elections, several parties in various municipalities had already announced they would not cooperate with Forum or expressed unease because of the far-right past of some candidates.

By contrast, Forum’s electoral rival, the PVV — which won roughly one-third as many seats as FVD — is being recommended for the first time to enter local governments in Pekela in Groningen and Rucphen in Noord-Brabant.