Wilders confirms he won't seek role as next Dutch prime minister; Several names surface

Far-right political leader Geert Wilders confirmed on Wednesday that he will take himself out of the running to become the next prime minister of the Netherlands. In a message posted on social media, the PVV leader confirmed reporting by broadcasters NOS and RTL Nieuws, as well as the Telegraaf.

"I can only become Prime Minister if ALL parties in the coalition support it. That was not the case," he wrote on X. "I want a right-wing Cabinet. Less asylum and immigration. Dutch people first," he continued. "The love for my country and voter is great and more important than my own position."

Wilders has spent months working with the leaders of the VVD, NSC and BBB to form a government. The leaders of those three parties took a firm stance this week, saying the only way they would be willing to move forward with the ongoing talks was if all four party leaders agreed not to take a seat on the Cabinet, NOS reported.

One name being thrown around as a potential prime minister is Kim Putters, the Labour politician currently leading talks between Wilders' PVV, the VVD, NSC and BBB. Additionally, some mentioned Ronald Plasterk, the former Labour politician who led the last round of talks. Others would like to see Johan Remkes in the role. He mediated talks that led to the formation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Fourth Cabinet, but has already said he was disappointed in rhetoric from the current parties bartering with each other.

Earlier in the day, the Telegraaf reported that none of the four party leaders involved in the talks will enter the Cabinet. Of the four, only VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz has any Cabinet experience. She is the current caretaker justice and security minister, having taken the role at the start of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Fourth Cabinet on January 10, 2022. For seven months prior, she was the economic affairs and climate state secretary.

Should the four parties form a Cabinet, Yeşilgöz would return back to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament. There, she will rejoin PVV leader Wilders, NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt and BBB leader Caroline van der Plas.

As such, the four parties are expected to begin negotiating the terms for an extra-parliamentary Cabinet, sources for both media outlets said. Putters, already said the four parties were prepared to enter the next phase of negotiations. He will reveal all details about the current status of the talks in a report sent to Parliament on Thursday.

The party leaders will next have to decide how they will define an extra-parliamentary Cabinet in this case, and to what degree the ministers and state secretaries will come from outside of politics. The expectation is that they will work together to assemble a concise coalition agreement, as opposed to the majority Cabinet coalition agreements in the past. The last three of these averaged 67 pages each.

In this way, the Tweede Kamer will have more influence over the national government's agenda and stances. While the four parties do form a majority in the Tweede Kamer, they are sharply divided on many issues. The PVV holds 37 seats after the November election, the VVD has 24, NSC has 20, and BBB adds 7, bringing their total to 88 out of 150 seats.

But the BBB is the largest party in the Eerste Kamer, the upper house of Parliament, with 16 seats. The VVD brings 10 more to the table, the PVV has 4, and NSC has none, having formed after the provincial election that led to the Eerste Kamer's current composition. That gives their coalition just 30 out of 75 seats, meaning they would need the support from one or more parties to pass legislation.

With his hesitation to work with Wilders after years of far-right statements, Omtzigt was the first to propose an extra-parliamentary Cabinet. Agreeing to this was the only way to keep all four parties at the table and working together, according to the Telegraaf.