After the right-wing populist Wilders resigned from the office of prime minister in the Netherlands, an extra-parliamentary government without a coalition agreement is on the horizon. Wilders could benefit.
It was the lead story on the evening news: Geert Wilders is resigning from the office of Dutch Prime Minister. It has already happened that the winner of the election does not become prime minister, explained The Hague correspondent Alexander van der Wulp in the eight o’clock journal, but such a case is extremely rare.
Specifically, this hasn’t happened for 42 years, he says. “In 1982, Ruud Lubbers became prime minister even though he didn’t win the election. And now Geert Wilders is left behind,” explains van der Wulp. “There has been speculation for some time that the other parties have demanded this from him and this evening Wilders also confirmed this on social media.”
In his post, Wilders wrote that he could only become prime minister if all coalition parties supported it, and that was not the case. The love for his country and the voters is greater and more important than his own position, said Wilders. In doing so, he wants to clear the way for a right-wing coalition and a policy that aims to reduce immigration and asylum.
Parties try each other again
The heads of the other three parties, who have been at the negotiating table for almost three months, have also announced that they will give up the office of Prime Minister. They also see their place in parliament in the future.
This was the result of a two-day retreat at the “De Zwaluwenberg” estate in Hilversum, Social Democrat Kim Putters explained to journalists. As an explorator commissioned by Parliament, the former politician has recently been leading the coalition negotiations. The discussions were good and produced results, he reported.
I won’t tell you yet what exactly will be in my report on this round of talks, but what I can tell you is that this is the next step on the way to forming a government.
That means: Wilders’ PVV, the conservative-liberal VVD, the Farmers’ Party and the NSC, the New Social Contract of the former Christian Democrat Pieter Omtzigt, are trying it out again.
Extra-parliamentary government as a possibility
The Dutch media has long speculated that the four want to agree on an extra-parliamentary government. Such an alliance would not agree on a coalition agreement, but would simply set key points and look for different majorities in parliament on factual issues. Ministers from other parties or external experts without party affiliation could also sit in the cabinet. The prime minister doesn’t necessarily have to be an active politician either.
NSC boss Pieter Omtzigt has always favored such a model. He was also the one who declared the first round of talks to have failed a few weeks ago.
Not a big sacrifice for Wilders
According to political observers, Wilders is not making a major sacrifice by resigning from the office of prime minister. On the contrary: In the future, he can do exactly what he would have preferred to do over the past 20 years, according to comments: play a critical role from within parliament without having to take responsibility himself.
Ludger Kazmierczak, ARD The Hague, tagesschau, March 14, 2024 8:01 a.m