Netherlands: New parliament is sworn in – government formation continues

Today the new Dutch parliament meets for the first time. But the formation of a government is ongoing: so far only one party has committed to an alliance with election winner Wilders.

Once again there was applause for the almost 80 MPs who said goodbye to the Second Chamber of Parliament yesterday – either because they were voluntarily withdrawing from politics or because they were not re-elected.

While the new parliament meets for its first session today, the big election winner Geert Wilders is trying behind the scenes to get closer to possible coalition partners. “These are good conversations that are primarily intended to create trust,” he said. As far as he is concerned, the trust is there. “The country has to be governed. In what form, we’ll see later. Now we have to talk to each other and tackle it together.”

Farmers’ Party commits to alliance

In this first phase of the exploratory talks, it is not about content or government constellations, but rather about finding out who can work with whom and who cannot. With his PVV, Wilders is aiming for a center-right coalition, for which he needs the support of the conservative-liberal VVD, the new NSC party and the farmers’ party BBB.

So far, only BBB boss Caroline van der Plas has said clearly yes to such an alliance. “I think you can’t deny that two and a half million people voted for the PVV. They’re not all racists,” she said. These are people who are worried about the country, their children, the housing shortage. “And in order to do justice to these people, we have to sit down at the table.”

VVD ready to minority government

At the invitation of former Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk, who acts as an independent mediator, VVD boss Dilan Yesilgöz also met with Wilders. She announced immediately after the election that her party would not join a center-right coalition. Yesilgöz said a few days ago that the VVD was prepared to tolerate a minority government and support it in certain projects. However, there are many in her party who are in favor of participating in the government.

So will the VVD still move? When answering this question, Yesilgöz remained vague: “I have full confidence that I will sit at the table with Messrs. Wilders and Omtzigt and with Caroline van der Plas to talk about content.”

Wilders relies on Omtzigt

No word has been spoken more often in the past few days than the word “trust”. And Pieter Omtzigt in particular lacks trust in Wilders. The former Christian Democrat founded his own party, the NSC, the “New Social Contract”, which was immediately able to win 20 seats in parliament.

Wilders needs Omtzigt to realize his plans for a center-right coalition, but the head of the fourth strongest political force in the country considers some of the PVV’s positions, such as the closure of mosques or a ban on the Koran, to be unconstitutional. “All concerns about the rule of law still exist. But not talking about it would not be good, so it is clear that we are talking to each other,” he said.

Omtzigt is therefore meeting both Dilan Yesilgöz and Geert Wilders today. The first exploratory round then comes to an end with these discussions. Mediator Ronald Plasterk will then take stock and make suggestions on how to proceed – with four, three or whatever.