Discussions on the formation of a new Government in the Netherlands will now proceed to more substantial negotiations, after Geert Wilders, leader of the far right, recognized that he could not be prime minister, according to the jornal ‘The Guardian’.
Kim Putters, a former Socialist senator who is overseeing the discussions, will report on the negotiations this Thursday. This document will state that the four parties involved, the Freedom Party (PVV), the liberal-conservative VVD, the agrarian BBB and the center-right party New Social Contract (NSC), will be able to create an “extra-parliamentary” cabinet, constituted by experts external to politics or with few connections to political parties, the public broadcaster NOS.
This agreement will also mean that the four party leaders will retain their seats in parliament, rather than taking on a role as ministers. This is one of the requirements in the NSC to support a PVV majority government.
If this plan comes to fruition, the coalition agreement would be shorter and less specific and parliament would have significant influence over policy. The last time the Netherlands adopted this type of government was in 1918.
The formation of a Government in the Netherlands may be closer, almost four months after the PVV, led by Wilders, won the legislative elections, but without an absolute majority. “The love for my country and my voters is greater and more important than my own position,” Wilders said on social network (formerly Twitter), after the lack of support from the parties with which he was trying to form a government coalition, which dictated that Geert Wilders not assume the position of prime minister.