After two months it is almost time: formateur Pieter Verhoeve has announced that the formation for a new provincial government is almost complete. After his talks with all parties, he expects to be able to present the administrative agreement of BBB, VVD, GroenLinks and PvdA next week.
In recent months, the four parties have met four half-days a week to reach an agreement. After the presentation of this administrative agreement, the Provincial Council still have to debate this and the new deputies will be appointed.
Last week, the future opposition parties expressed their dissatisfaction with the negotiators’ radio silence. For this reason, an extra meeting has been scheduled for Friday 16 June. “It is now June and the newly elected Members of Parliament, like all Brabant people, still do not know where they stand”, Willem Rutjens of JA21 wrote on behalf of all parties in a letter to the King’s Commissioner Ina Adema.
Not invited
It is striking that Local Brabant is not part of the new coalition. The scout’s advice was to involve this party in the talks. Group chairman Marc Oudenhoven calls it disappointing. “It is a pity that we have not heard anything at all, because at first it seemed that we were allowed to join the negotiating table.”
Due to the lingering nitrogen crisis, it is still highly questionable whether the four parties will get through the ride together. The past four years have shown that this is not self-evident. The first coalition in that period lasted only 209 days. The BBB previously suggested looking back on how things went after two years.
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