Plasterk is out: Who will be the next candidate for Dutch Prime Minister?

Now that Ronald Plasterk (PvdA) has withdrawn from the race to become the next Dutch Prime Minister, PVV leader Geert Wilders must choose a new candidate. Several names are floating around in the political circles, but who the far-right leader will pick is still anyone’s guess.

Wilders never officially nominated Plasterk to be Prime Minister, but he was rumored to be the PVV leader’s dream candidate. After Plasterk announced on Monday that he was no longer available for the position, Wilders said that Plasterk would have been “an excellent” Prime Minister.

The names of several prominent VVD members are floating around as possible candidates, including former State Secretaries Klaas Dikhoff and Fred Teeven, former Health Minister Edith Schippers, Johan Remkes, and Paul de Krom. Dijkhoff, a favorite among Dutch voters, has said that he’s enjoying his life away from politics for the time being and “woudl rather not” take the Job. Remkes has told NOS that he has no intention of becoming Prime Minister. “I am retired in Groningen and I intend to remain so.” Others, like Teeven and Schippers, have refused to respond.

However, according to Parool’s sources, Wilders is unlikely to pick a prominent member from one of the coalition's other three parties. Wilders wanted to be Prime Minister himself, but the parties agreed that none of their leaders would be in the Cabinet. Wilders (PVV), Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD), Pieter Omtzigt (NSC), and Caroline van der Plas (BBB) will all be parliamentarians during this government’s term. That was a hard pill to swallow for Wilders and making a member of the VVD, NSC, or BBB Prime Minister will be a step too far for him, the newspaper’s sources said.

That also excludes Mona Keijzer (BBB) as a candidate. Keijzer left the CDA last year and joined the BBB, which presented her as its Prime Minister candidate ahead of the November elections. She was previously dismissed from the Rutte III Cabinet for criticizing coronavirus restrictions.

The PVV itself doesn’t have members with governing experience who can lead a Cabinet, so Wilders has to look outside his party. While he has been a parliamentarian for a quarter of a century, his far-right stances tend to be alienating and he doesn’t have a large circle of political friends. According to Parool, Plasterk’s nomination as formation talks leader and potential Prime Minister candidate came about after Wilders ran into him on holiday on Bonaire last summer. They and their wives had dinner and hit it off.

Circles in national politics are cautiously suggesting that Kim Putters (PvdA) is the most likely candidate. Like Plasterk, the Chairman of the Social Economic Council (SER) led a round of formation talks. It was Putters who found a way for Omtzigt’s NSC to come back to the table, among other things, with the compromise that none of the four party leaders would be in the Cabinet. It is unclear whether Wilders is a fan of Putters.

When Putters presented his final report on the round of talks he led, reporters asked him if he was available to be Prime Minister. He answered that it is “not an issue now”—the standard answer in Dutch politics if you want to keep your options open.

Another name circling in The Hague is that of non-partisan Steven van Eijck, the State Secretary of Finance in the Balkende I Cabinet. Van Eijck has held one administrative position after another, is currently a member of the SER, and is often praised for his experience and knowledge in a variety of policy areas.

Whoever gets nominated will have to deal with several massive, ongoing crises, such as climate change, the housing shortage, the tight labor market, and ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, on top of mediating with strong personalities like Wilders and Omtzigt.

“That’s why I think it will be someone with political experience and not an expert from outside politics,” VVD prominent Henk Kamp told AD early this month, firmly adding that he was not available for the position. “It is really important that you know how a Cabinet works, the Tweede Kamer, the mutual relationships, and you’ll need a thick skin.”

On Wednesday, parliament will debate the progress of the Cabinet formation and formally appoint Richard van Zwol as “formateur”—the person responsible for putting the Cabinet together. Typically, the formateur becomes Prime Minister, but Van Zwol has explicitly said that he is not up for the job.