Wilders under fire in debate on gov't collapse; Cabinet can keep working on asylum
PVV leader Geert Wilders faced extreme criticism from opposition and coalition parties alike in the parliamentary debate on his decision to topple the Cabinet. He was called a coward, a disappointment to his voters, and a disgrace, among other things. The coalition parties, with the support of right-wing opposition parties, also agreed to let the caretaker Cabinet keep working on a harsher asylum policy for the Netherlands.
When Wilders got his chance at the microphone, he started by repeating the ten-point asylum plan that he used as the reason to pull the PVV out of the coalition. His list contained several measures that experts consider legally unfeasible, like a complete asylum stop, closing shelters, halting family reunification, and deporting Syrian asylum seekers. Wilders repeated what he said on Tuesday, that his party did not want to “sign for the downfall of the Netherlands” because his former coalition partners did not immediately want to sign his demands. “They had 100,000 excuses for that,” Wilders said. “First, find out, work out plans… Complete nonsense.”
Former coalition partner Dilan Yeşilgöz did not agree with that. The VVD leader called Wilders’ demand for unfeasible asylum measures a show. He didn’t want stricter asylum measures, but for the Cabinet to fall, she said. “He didn’t want a signature, he just wanted a way out,” she said. “It didn’t matter what we came up with, he didn’t listen to it.” She accused Wilders of being immature. “Wilders is abandoning the Netherlands. In unprecedented uncertain times.”
D66 leader Rob Jetten wondered if the PVV would ever again find someone willing to work with the party after this “disastrous” week. “He hasn’t changed a bit,” Jetten said of Wilders. “He runs away when things get tough. What should have been a right-wing dream turned out to be a mirage.”
SP leader Jimmy Dijk said Wilders failed to use the power the voters gave him. ChristenUnie leader Mirjam Bikker accused Wilders of bringing the country to a standstill because he “didn’t get his way on one point.” CDA leader Henri Bontenbal called the fall of the Cabinet “irresponsible and reckless,” and that is almost entirely due to the PVV, he said.
It wasn’t only Wilders under fire. VOLT leader Laurens Dassen also addressed Yeşilgöz. “Under the leadership of keyboard warrior Wilders, made possible in part by VVD leader Yeşilgöz, the Netherlands became less green, less fair, and less safe. My question is simple: Ms Yeşilgöz, is this flirtation with the far-right now over?”
Amid the accusations, the parliamentarians made their first agreement on what the caretaker Cabinet can continue to work on. A large majority of former coalition parties, PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB, and right-wing opposition parties CDA, SGP, and JA21 agreed that they want to continue with stricter asylum laws despite the fall of the Cabinet.
At the start of the debate, caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof mentioned four themes that he would like to continue with in a caretaker capacity. Migration was not among them. Schoof mentioned security, the American import duties, the national budget, and the recovery operations for earthquake damage in Groningen and the benefits scandal.
