In the week in which the country was at a standstill due to the winter weather, the forming parties came up with a bold decision to resuscitate the stalled political system. D66, VVD and CDA want to definitively form a minority cabinet, D66 leader Rob Jetten announced on Friday after a two-day meeting on the De Zwaluuwenberg estate in Hilversum. Such a cabinet will rely on only 66 seats in the House of Representatives, ten short of a majority. And so the three parties want to seek support from other parties. But which ones they are and how exactly they want to shape them is still open.
The choice for a minority cabinet was presented by the three parties as a breakthrough in the formation. Jetten, VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz and CDA leader Henri Bontenbal came out together at the end of the afternoon on Friday in the middle of a heavy snow shower to show that they trust each other. “In recent weeks we have been able to invest a lot in understanding each other and each other’s positions,” Yesilgöz said. Informant Rianne Letschert had given a decision on the form of the cabinet as homework for this formation week and said that the three party leaders had reached an agreement among themselves on Friday morning, after more than a day of discussions at De Zwaluwenberg.
In recent weeks, the addition of the radical right JA21, good for nine seats, was still hanging over the market. With JA21 there would not have been a majority (75 seats), but the cabinet would have had a broader base in the House of Representatives. The VVD in particular was in favor of negotiating with JA21, but D66 stopped that, it turned out on Friday. Jetten called the addition of JA21 “not wise” because he expects that such a cabinet, with a very right-wing signature, would find it less easy to find support from other parties in the House. “With three people it is easier, broader and more flexible,” thinks Jetten.
‘Don’t go around endlessly in circles’
For D66, which would have preferred to negotiate a majority cabinet with GroenLinks-PvdA, it would also be very complicated in terms of content to reach agreements with JA21, which thinks diametrically differently on topics such as climate, nitrogen, migration and Europe. Because the VVD previously blocked GroenLinks-PvdA, and D66 therefore had no interest in JA21, Jetten and Yesilgöz agreed with each other by opting for a minority cabinet of three parties. “We tried to convince each other of our preferred variants, but that did not work,” Jetten said to Yesilgöz, laughing. “Instead of endlessly going around in circles, it was important to make a decision.”
The CDA clearly wanted to take the position of D66 into account. CDA leader Henri Bontenbal was not opposed to negotiating with JA21, but would in any case prefer a majority coalition with GroenLinks-PvdA or else five parties. Bontenbal called it “a political reality” on Friday that a minority cabinet is now the most logical option, and also wants to keep up the pace. “Everyone has concerns about developments in Europe and the rest of the world, we want the Netherlands to have a cabinet quickly.”
Although the three parties have a lot of confidence in each other, it was striking that they do not yet know exactly how a minority coalition should gain sufficient support in both Houses. Informant Letschert will invite all other parties in the House of Representatives next week to discuss possible cooperation. In any case, D66, VVD and CDA are taking a unique step by Dutch standards, because minority cabinets have not occurred in post-war history. Letschert spoke of “a new phenomenon that we all have to get used to.” The informant does not think that a minority cabinet is more unstable in advance. “In recent years, many cabinets that did have a majority have fallen prematurely.”
No concrete plan yet
Logical routes to a majority exist for D66, VVD and CDA on the left (GroenLinks-PvdA with twenty seats) and on the right (JA21, supplemented with possibly small factions such as the SGP or 50Plus). A minority cabinet can work with permanent tolerating partners, or conclude varying agreements with different opposition parties per theme.
D66 leader Jetten had to admit that the three parties do not yet have a concrete plan for this and would first like to discuss this with the other parties in the House. He said this requires “new forms of political cooperation.”
There were no enthusiastic reactions from the rest of the House on Friday to the choice for a minority cabinet. JA21, which would have liked to participate in the government, is “disappointed” that no discussions were held with that party. Party leader Joost Eerdmans believes this is “a missed opportunity to see whether justice can be done to the election results.” Eerdmans believes that the voice of the right-wing voter is “severely underrepresented” in a cabinet of only D66, VVD and CDA. According to him, JA21 will view a minority cabinet “with a constructively critical view from the opposition.”
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GroenLinks-PvdA did not respond immediately, but party leader Jesse Klaver said earlier in the formation that the Netherlands “needs a stable majority cabinet to achieve breakthroughs.” GroenLinks-PvdA is also frustrated that it has not been allowed to negotiate and will have little interest in supporting a centre-right minority cabinet. The party is also against cuts to healthcare or social security to fund higher defense expenditure, a route that D66, VVD and CDA want to take.
BBB with twelve seats is also important for support in the Senate, where the three parties only have 22 of the required 38 seats for a majority. Party leader Caroline van der Plas spoke on Friday on Van der Plas added that BBB will consider support for proposals from the new cabinet “one by one”.
Under no circumstances can D66, VVD and CDA count on the support of one party. PVV leader Geert Wilders sent a succinct tweet about a possible minority cabinet: “So new elections next year.”
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