D66 expected to nominate NS boss Wouter Koolmees to lead first talks to form Cabinet

Former Social Affairs Minister Wouter Koolmees will likely be nominated by D66 on Tuesday to be the initial scout tasked with finding a possible path to a governing coalition. A source close to the decision confirmed a report by RTL Nieuws that Koolmees, the current head of Dutch national railway NS, is "in the picture" for the job.

D66 is expected to be in the position to nominate a scout, with current projections putting them as the winner of the most votes in last weeks election for the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament. The largest party to sit in the new Tweede Kamer is customarily given the opportunity to nominate the first exploratory scout.

The leaders of all parties will meet with Tweede Kamer Speaker Martin Bosma on Tuesday. D66 is projected to have 28,455 more votes than Bosma's PVV.

The scout has exploratory conversations with all parties to provide an initial report to Parliament about suggestions over which parties should pursue forming a Cabinet. The nominee is expected to have extensive political experience, while also being somewhat removed from current political developments. The scout then proposes a candidate to become informateur, who then leads the next stage of talks between parties looking to become part of the Cabinet.

Koolmees served as informateur two separate times in 2021. The first time lasted just a few days in late March and early April, where he worked together with Tamara van Ark from the VVD.

In October, he served as informateur again, this time with Johan Remkes. They ensured the formation of the fourth Cabinet of Mark Rutte, consisting of the VVD, D66, CDA, and ChristenUnie.

From 2010 to 2017, Koolmees served in the Tweede Kamer. He took charge of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment from October 2017 to early January 2022 under Rutte's third Cabinet.

He also spent seven months as the deputy prime minister from D66 starting in November 2019. The interim role was a position he took when replacing Kajsa Ollongren while she was on sick leave.