The first political opinion poll taken after the collapse of the Netherlands’ right-wing coalition government on Tuesday says only 14 per cent of voters believe it achieved anything worthwhile during its 11 months in office.
The coalition of Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party, the centre-right VVD, agrarian BBB and progressive New Social Contract collapsed after Mr Wilders made good on a threat to pull out of the coalition unless the other parties backed tougher immigration reforms.
King Willem-Alexander cut short a state visit to the Czech Republic to return to The Hague on Tuesday to accept the resignation of prime minister Dick Schoof, who will remain in a caretaker capacity until the outcome of a general election in October.
The Schoof government took office last July. The poll by current affairs television programme EenVandaag surveyed 16,117 respondents in the hours immediately after Mr Wilders abandoned the coalition.
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It gave the government – racked by relentless infighting and stung by external criticism from the start – an overall satisfaction rating of 3.6 out of 10.
Eighty-three per cent of the responses to the opinion poll were negative, while only 14 per cent were positive.
Given its troubled tenure, most voters – 65 per cent – welcome the coalition’s demise.
Non-Freedom Party voters blame Mr Wilders personally, frequently describing him as “childish”.
By contrast, his own supporters say he was “obstructed” by the other coalition parties and needs a new mandate to govern as prime minister – a post all the parties’ leaders agreed to forego last year.
[ Geert Wilders pulls party from Netherlands governmentOpens in new window ]
As a result, only 16 per cent of respondents said they would like to see the same parties work together again.
Almost three-quarters – 72 per cent – agree with Labour-GreenLeft leader Frans Timmermans that elections are the only practical way to achieve a newly stable government for the fifth-largest economy in the euro zone.
As the inevitability of an autumn election sank in, parliament began a post-collapse debate on Wednesday morning, full of angry recriminations.
The mood of MPs wasn’t helped by the prospect of a nationwide train strike on Friday that has been overshadowed by the political crisis.
Arriving for the debate, Mr Wilders said he would keep up the pressure for tighter immigration. “Let’s start now: close asylum centres, don’t let people in, and don’t allow family migration.”
However, Christian Democrat leader Henri Bontenbal responded that after the “chaos” of an 11-month “political experiment” the mood now was for a return to “stability”.
“Society is longing for normality and for politicians who deliver more – not less – than they promise.”
