They started with four parties, there are now two more. Outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof will soon be able to explain in the Lower House how his thinned cabinet will still be driving in the coming months. In June the cabinet fell over asylum and the PVV left the coalition, last Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp (NSC) resigned due to a conflict on extra sanctions against Israel, followed by the other eight NSC regulators. It was unique in Dutch political history that a coalition party steps out of a outgoing cabinet.
VVD and BBB want to fill together and fill the released cabinet posts, Schoof wrote on Tuesday evening A letter to the Lower House. The two parties have already reached agreement on this, although the names of the new ministers are not yet known. The House of Representatives VVD and BBB are expected to give the space to go through together, the idea of D66 to form a ‘national cabinet’ with former registrants of several parties seems to be able to count on little support.
In concrete terms, the question will be what the battered cabinet is still allowed by the Chamber. The preparation of a policy -poor budget seems to have to succeed, although Minister of Finance Eelco Heinen also says he is disappointed with the ‘chaos’. Furthermore, it could be that parties want to explain more topics ‘controversial’, so that VVD and BBB no longer have room to continue new policy.
The debate is also expected to be about sanctions against Israel. The left opposition will put pressure to do more. From a reconstruction of NRC It appears that Minister Veldkamp made concessions towards VVD and BBB in the negotiations on Friday, but that these parties did not want to agree with concrete measures against Israel.
Prime Minister moved over Gaza on Friday after the parliamentary debate.
Photo Bart Maat