Long coalition talks hurt confidence in politicians: Speaker of Tweede Kamer

Speaker of the Tweede Kamer Vera Bergkamp said she believes the "embarrassingly" long formation has damaged confidence in politics. In the program WNL on Sunday, she said that a formation process such as the last one should not be repeated.

Bergkamp said she urged the negotiating parties to speed up the process. She regretted that it took so long while major dossiers such as the child benefit scandal and fracking in Groning required attention.

This year the formation process will be evaluated. Bergkamp thinks that informing the Tweede Kamer regularly would contribute to better formation talks.

She doubted whether the king could have sped up the process. "There was such a major loss of confidence; I wonder the king could have changed that," Bergkamp said. VVD leader and Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in an interview with De Telegraaf that the king could have shortened the formation.