Talks aimed at negotiating a right-wing coalition government in the Netherlands – most likely led by Geert Wilders as its first far-right prime minister – have collapsed after one of the four parties pulled out citing concerns about the “extremely shocking” state of the public finances.
In a letter over the heads of fellow negotiators directly to his party members, Pieter Omtzigt, leader of the fledgling New Social Contract (NSC), said he did not intend “to make promises to the Dutch people that they already know are empty and cannot be fulfilled”.
He was referring to government figures which he says he was belatedly given access to on Tuesday evening, and which he says show an incontrovertible need for structural spending cuts of €17 billion to be found by the new administration across all government departments.
As part of his social media campaign since the talks began Mr Wilders has been commenting on X about his plans for a right-wing government “with lower taxes and without large painful spending cuts”.
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Ronald Plasterk, the facilitator leading the talks, described the situation as “confusing”, and called the remaining three leaders to an emergency meeting on Wednesday evening which Mr Omtzigt refused to attend. Mr Omtzigt said he considered the talks “finished”.
Mr Wilders’s Freedom Party won 37 seats in the 150-seat parliament and the talks since the November election have between the Freedom Party, the centre-right VVD, which took 24, the “farmer-citizen” party BBB, which took seven, and the NSC, which won 20 seats.
Without the backing of the NSC Mr Wilders has no chance of putting together a majority government – and even a minority administration tacitly supported by the NSC and perhaps the VVD from the opposition benches looks too fragile to survive.
In advance of Wednesday evening’s meeting with Mr Plasterk, Mr Wilders said the decision by NSC to withdraw was “unbelievably disappointing”.
“The Netherlands wants this government and yet Omtzigt throws in the towel while talks are still under way. I don’t understand it. He owes everyone an explanation.”
Dilan Yesilgöz, who succeeded caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte as VVD leader, said she was also “very surprised”, while BBB leader Carolien van der Plas described the decision as “baffling”.
Mr Plasterk is due to update parliament on the state of the talks next week, but the options are rapidly dwindling. The three remaining right-wing parties can continue to try for a minority coalition, or the amalgamated Labour-GreenLeft parties, with 25 seats, led by former EU commission vice-president, Frans Timmermans, can attempt a centre-left combination.
Mr Wilders accused Mr Omtzigt of “opening the door” for Mr Timmermans, saying “that’s not what the electorate voted for”.
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