The mutual blockages are rock solid, but party leaders do not consider themselves the problem for coalition formation

Everyone acknowledges that the fledgling formation is not moving. But the problem analyzes vary. When Henri Bontenbal of the CDA arrived at scout Wouter Koolmees on Monday morning around half past eight, he said that his party “is not the problem”.

VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz, who came for an interview after him, even stated that there is “no problem at all”.

Koolmees will present the report of the exploration at the end of the day on Tuesday, around 7 p.m

And Rob Jetten from D66? According to him, “there are still many roads leading to Rome.” The formation has only been underway for over a week, he emphasized. Jetten sees merit in discussing the content. “There is no point in going around endlessly about who doesn’t want to be with whom,” he said. “I think you can also use the content to see which major themes you can tackle for the country.” Who should go with whom is then a concern for later.

Scout Wouter Koolmees (D66), according to various sources, also seems to be leaning in that direction: a driving force for parties that can take substantive steps. That could be done with D66, CDA and VVD, or without the VVD.

‘Elimination games’

This Monday, Koolmees held the final discussions before presenting the exploration report at the end of the day on Tuesday. The problem at hand: the VVD sees JA21 as a possible fourth party; D66 wants to continue with GroenLinks-PvdA. On Friday there was talk of “an impasse”.

As long as Yesilgöz’s party excludes GroenLinks-PvdA, the majority coalition that D66 has in mind is not feasible. During the campaign, the VVD leader promised not to cooperate with GroenLinks-PvdA. Even since the beginning of the formation, that door has remained closed.

Koolmees said on Monday afternoon after the conversations with Bontenbal, Yesilgöz and Jetten that he “has an idea”, but still wants to “test a few things with conversation partners from the past week”. He will meet the deadline, Tuesday evening, he assured. He did not want to say anything about the content of the advice.

Bridging

Sooner or later the impasse will have to be broken. In that respect, other parties mainly look to the VVD. That party aroused the irritation of others by playing ‘exclusion games’ during the campaign. According to CDA leader Bontenbal, he said in the NOS final debate, people are “sick and sick of this attitude”.

Given that the municipal elections are approaching in March, some parties are taking into account that the VVD will keep the door closed to GroenLinks-PvdA until then, for fear of losing voters. To bridge that time, substantive conversations within an engine block would not be a bad idea, says an insider. If only because then at least something happens in The Hague.

Scout Koolmees expects to present the report on Tuesday around 7 p.m. The new House of Representatives will be sworn in on Wednesday and will immediately debate the report on Thursday. The House then decides, via a motion, on the further follow-up of the formation. Wouter Koolmees, who is currently CEO of the NS, has already indicated that he will not be available as an informant.

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