New formation leader determined to find Cabinet that "does justice to election results"

Kim Putters, the new informant that will lead Cabinet formation talks in the coming weeks, is determined to find a “Cabinet variant” that “does justice to the election results.” He will talk to all party leaders in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, after next week. “That will be a marathon week, so to speak,” he said during a press conference on Thursday, AD reports.

PVV leader Geert Wilders nominated Putters as the new formation leader on Wednesday after the previous round of talks under Ronald Plasterk collapsed when Pieter Omtzigt and his NSC suddenly withdrew.

Putters expects that smoothing out the formation will be a “difficult job.” His first order of business is figuring out what type of Cabinet all the party leaders want. First, he wants to know from the VVD and NSC precisely what they mean by an extra-parliamentary Cabinet. Omtzigt has advocated for this from the start, and VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz said on Wednesday that her party would participate in such a Cabinet.

Putters will first discuss this with experts, but he especially wants to know from the party leaders what they have in their heads. “We have to be precise about Cabinet forms. There are many discussions about what an extra-parliamentary Cabinet is. You also heard party leaders say: we don’t know exactly who means what by that.”

Asked whether Omtzigt will receive extra attention because his NSC can make multiple Cabinet variants possible, Putters said: “My assignment does not say: ‘make Pieter Omtzigt more comfortable.’ I will talk to everyone.”

Putters has “three to four weeks” to talk to all the party leaders. He will not dawdle, he said. “I am somewhat surprised that I am standing here. But the Netherlands deserves a process that is urgent,” Putters said. “We face major challenges in our country. It is important that a Cabinet is formed quickly.”