On the first day of the formation, D66 leader Rob Jetten is clear: a “broad middle cabinet” with D66, VVD, CDA and GroenLinks-PvdA is his preference. VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz refuses that option, because she excludes GroenLinks-PvdA. Both party leaders reported this to a line of journalists in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, after all party leaders visited Chamber President Martin Bosma (PVV) to make their preferences clear.
Jetten wants “a combination with more than 75 seats and there is one combination that can deliver that with four parties.” Jetten thus temporarily rejects the right-wing option, in which JA21 would co-govern instead of GroenLinks-PvdA.
With this attitude, the would-be prime minister on day one of the formation of his cabinet opts for a direct clash with VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz, who based her campaign on the promise to rule out a cabinet with GroenLinks-PvdA.
“I think it is quite clear what the VVD wants,” Yesilgöz said on Tuesday afternoon. For the VVD, excluding GroenLinks-PvdA is an important breaking point: the party has partly obtained strategic votes as a result. Only 17 percent of VVD voters are currently in favor of the center variant, according to a poll EenToday.
According to GroenLinks-PvdA faction leader Jesse Klaver, elected on Monday, his party can “help the Netherlands move forward again” from both the opposition and the coalition. He calls the attitude of the VVD “old school politics”.
Majority
Jetten minimizes the blockade placed by the VVD, he calls it a “clear commitment” to the negotiations, he does not use the word ‘breaking point’. The CDA does not create any blockages, emphasizes party leader Henri Bontenbal. He only rules out cooperation with PVV and FVD, like most parties.
What all three parties that will probably join the coalition – D66, VVD, CDA – agree on is that a stable cabinet must be formed. They all have different ideas about what that means.
Jetten calls the combination with JA21 “not stable”, because it would have 75 seats, while 76 seats are needed for a parliamentary majority. No majority would be a problem, “we have seen that in recent years, if you miss one or a few MPs” during votes, “a lot can happen.” He is referring, among other things, to the asylum laws of the outgoing cabinet, which passed the House because a number of left-wing factions were incomplete during the votes.
According to CDA leader Henri Bontenbal – who clearly wants to be as constructive as possible – such a combination with 75 seats can be stable. He assumes that there are always a number of constructive parties that want to move along with the coalition.
Whether Yesilgöz also thinks 75 seats is enough, she leaves it open: “That is for my conversation with the scout.” The VVD leader already indicated during the campaign that he was also prepared to form BBB, for example, which could help the combination with JA21 gain a majority. But those parties are far removed from D66 in terms of content. JA21 leader Joost Eerdmans himself does not think a cabinet with 75 seats is a good idea, although he would like to participate in government.
Also read
As a scout, Wouter Koolmees will take the first step in solving a difficult ‘formation puzzle’
Scout
Next week, scout Wouter Koolmees, appointed on Tuesday, will start working on listing the various coalition options. Koolmees, a prominent D66 figure who previously served as minister, was a second in the formation in 2017 and an informant in 2021. He is seen in The Hague as a constructive bridge builder.
He calls the election results “quite complex” and mentions that “strong preferences” were expressed during the campaign – that seems to be a reference to the VVD. According to Koolmees, mutual relationships are “beaten up” and “made brittle” during elections, and he hopes to restore them somewhat. He will not become an informant, he says, because of his position as CEO of the NS.
He will present his report on November 11, the new House will take office on November 12 and the House will debate the exploration on November 13.
There is therefore a rush behind this first exploratory phase, and that puts pressure on the positions that parties choose. Almost all Dutch parties have promised voters that they will put a new cabinet in place as soon as possible. Often it was even about a formation before Christmas. If things don’t go smoothly with the formation, the question is who will be portrayed as the delayer.
Municipal elections
During the campaign, Bontenbal and Jetten depicted the VVD as childish and unconstructive because that party excludes GroenLinks-PvdA. Yesilgöz would make the country’s administration unnecessarily complicated for his own gain. Now that the exploratory phase has actually started, it can be heard behind the scenes that the parties have no patience for the attitude of the VVD leader.
The reality is that the VVD is crucial for all obvious coalitions. Extra complex: the municipal elections are already in March of next year. It could be electorally painful for the VVD to make a U-turn before those elections. But being portrayed as irresponsible for months is also painful.
While D66 is preparing for a potentially very tough formation battle, the second party of the Netherlands is keeping quiet. Despite his 26 seats – as many as D66 – PVV leader Geert Wilders has no role in this formation.
Wilders had little to say on Tuesday, except that he agrees with Koolmees’ appointment. He also acknowledged D66’s election win, after he sowed doubt about the counting of votes last week. Wilders had suggested that the votes had been manipulated in favor of D66, without providing any evidence for this.
Also read
Cabinet formation begins: through the middle or over the right, depending on the VVD blockade from the left
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 items give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.