Dutch MPs are to debate the breakdown of talks on a right-wing coalition government next week, although far-right leader, Geert Wilders, says he remains willing to “press ahead” and examine the possibility of a minority administration – despite the loss of one of his three potential partners.
“We are still looking for solutions”, said Mr Wilders as he arrived on Thursday for another round of talks with VVD leader, Dilan Yesilgoz, and Caroline van der Plas of the citizen-farmer BBB, but without Pieter Omtzigt, leader of New Social Contract, who abandoned the negotiations on Wednesday.
Mr Omtzigt pulled out abruptly after examining “extremely shocking” financial documents which showed, he said, that an incoming coalition would be faced with making deep structural cuts totalling some €17 billion which had not been red-flagged over the past eight weeks.
In a letter to party members, Mr Omtzigt seemed to suggest the documents had been withheld from the negotiators by the talks’ facilitator, former minister, Ronald Plasterk, for up to a fortnight while the public finances were on the talks’ agenda.
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Mr Plasterk’s supporters said he had provided details of “possible financial setbacks” but not “possible windfalls”, which may have given “a distorted picture” of the public finances overall. Mr Plasterk himself added: “To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what Mr Omtzigt wants.”
Mr Omtzigt also pointed out that the need for immediate public spending cuts revealed in the treasury documents was inconsistent with Mr Wilders’s long-stated position that he planned a right-wing coalition “with lower taxes and without large painful spending cuts”.
Asked on evening TV chatshowHumberto where NSC now stood in relation to the negotiations, Mr Omtzigt definitively ruled out joining a cabinet with the other three right-wing parties, adding: “This round has ended”.
Significantly, however, he did not rule out joining or perhaps supporting “a broader coalition”.
Although he did not specify with whom, the options are limited and certainly include the centre-left Labour-GreenLeft amalgamation led by former EU vice-president Frans Timmermans, which came second in the November election with 25 of the 150 seats in parliament.
The first round of coalition talks involved the four right-wing parties because that reflected the sharp swing to the right in the vote in which the Freedom Party won a surprise 37 of the 150 seats in parliament, the VVD won 24, NSC 20 and BBB seven.
Barring a dramatic change over the next few days, Mr Plasterk is due to submit a written report to parliament on Monday, giving his formal assessment of the success or otherwise of the first round of the talks.
That report will then form the basis of a parliamentary debate on Wednesday, which should decide where the talks go from here.
If Mr Wilders proves persuasive, MPs could sanction extra time to discuss a minority right-wing government. If not, they could invite Mr Timmermans to construct an alternative.
Talks on the fourth Rutte coalition, which concluded in 2010, were the longest in Dutch history, taking a total of nine months.
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