MP's discussing which topics collapsed gov't can work on today; Election likely in Oct.

In a few hours, the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, will debate the fall of the Schoof I Cabinet and decide which issues the caretaker Cabinet can keep working on and what will be declared “controversial” and left for the next government. The new elections will likely be held in October, NOS reported.

Especially Geert Wilders and his PVV can expect a difficult debate. Opposition parties and voters alike agree that the Cabinet collapse was unnecessary, irresponsible, and terrible timing, given the state of the world and the NATO summit happening in The Hague at the end of this month. The other coalition parties are also furious, with BBB Minister Mona Keijzer even accusing Wilders of treason.

In the coming months, the Schoof I Cabinet will continue in a caretaker capacity without the PVV Ministers. Deputy Prime Minister Eddy van Hijum summed it up as annoying, but “a reality that we must accept.”

Caretaker Prime Minister Dick Scoof wants to keep working on important issues like the nitrogen policy, if parliament allows. Themes like safety, the economy, the housing shortage, and migration require “decisiveness and not postponement,” he said. His caretaker Cabinet will do everything it can to continue on these themes and seek majorities in parliament. That is provided that the Tweede Kamer allows the Cabinet to keep working on this topic.

The caretaker Cabinet and the Electoral Council must also set a date for the new parliamentary elections, giving municipalities enough time to prepare. It will definitely be after the summer recess, likely in October, according to NOS.

NSC leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven has already said that her party will not work with the PVV and Geert Wilders again. “We will not do business with this guy again,” she said on Dit is de Dag on Tuesday evening.

VVD leader Dilan Yeșilgöz told the program Nieuws van de Dag that she won’t rule out governing with the PVV again, but she is very, very angry. “I received a lot of criticism one and a half to two years ago for the fact that I refused to exclude voters. If the voter so clearly makes a party the largest, you should give that party a chance,” she said. “Everything still needs to sink in. I am going to think about this carefully. I have not yet come to that answer.”

BBB leader Caroline van der Plas said on the same program that she won’t exclude parties in advance. “A conversation is always possible.”