Opposition weighs support and criticism after minority coalition agreement

Opposition parties reacted sharply on Friday to the coalition agreement presented by D66, VVD, and CDA, with responses ranging from cautious openness to outright rejection as the minority government begins seeking parliamentary support.

GroenLinks–PvdA stated that it plans to leverage its parliamentary seats “to the fullest” to push for a more social and greener agenda, party leader Jesse Klaver said in response to the on X. He described this effort as “absolutely necessary.”

The largest opposition party has earlier signaled its willingness to strike deals with the minority coalition. With GroenLinks–PvdA’s 20 seats, the coalition can secure a comfortable majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, while the party holds 14 seats in the Senate, also known as the Eerste Kamer.

Klaver described the agreement as “a starting point for negotiations.” The left-wing party has not yet issued a full response, preferring to review the plans in detail first. A party meeting on Sunday will provide an opportunity for Klaver to elaborate.

Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV, described the coalition agreement as “disastrous,” singling out the planned cuts to healthcare and social security under the new minority government.

Wilders also opposes the coalition’s asylum plans and criticizes the additional funding for development aid, as well as the 3.4 billion euros earmarked for support to Ukraine.

Wilders had already stated that he would refuse to work with the new coalition and vowed to pursue a hardline opposition strategy.

The Markuszower Group sees the coalition agreement as “an opening offer to the Tweede Kamer.” Having split from the PVV earlier this month, the group said in its first response that it hopes “to use our 7 seats to negotiate better deals with this minority government.”

The Markuszower Group says it is “quite shocked” by the coalition agreement’s plans. It criticized the limited measures on asylum inflows and the “severe cuts” to healthcare and social security, according to a statement on X. “We will back good proposals, but much work remains to make the plans more manageable for the Dutch people,” the group added.

“The incoming cabinet is a step forward compared with the current one,” Esther Ouwehand of the Partij voor de Dieren said on Bluesky. “But let’s be honest: that wasn’t very hard.”

Ouwehand says she will judge the coalition agreement based on several key principles, including investment in climate stability, a healthy environment, robust nature conservation, international justice, and equality. She also stresses the need to safeguard the democratic rule of law from internal and external threats, as well as to deliver meaningful protection for animals at last.

Caroline van der Plas argues that the coalition agreement consists largely of abstract plans that ordinary households will ultimately have to pay for. The BBB leader says regions outside the Randstad are being neglected and warns of steep cost increases for families. She describes the overall set of measures as devastating for rural areas.

BBB says it remains willing to engage in discussions, but does not intend to commit blindly. At present, the party has four seats in the lower house and 12 in the upper house.