Far-right leader Geert Wilders seems to have thrown the towel on his capacity of becoming the next Dutch prime minister after months of negotiations with potential coalition partners.
Wilders commented on X that “I can only become premier if ALL parties in the coalition support that. That wasn’t the case.”
His Party for Freedom (PVV) won 37 seats in Dutch 150 parliament after elections on Nov. 22, 2023. The result came as a shock and allowed Wilders and PVV to be crucial for any possible coalition government.
Negotiations started immediately with three possible partners, the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, populist Farmer Citizen Movement and centrist New Social Contract. Combined, the four parties hold 88 seats in parliament, enough for a comfortable majority.
Talks on Monday and Tuesday produced a standstill, with New Social Contract leader Pieter Omtzigt ruling out being part of a government led by Wilders, prompting the far-right leader to step aside of the role, if that means creating a government. “The love for my country and voter is bigger and more important than my own position,” Wilders tweeted.
Following this new development, it is unclear what can still happen. Government forming is usually pretty laborious in the Netherlands, with negotiations that last months. There are rumours of a possible government led by a mixture of experts and politicians, as well as a minority government led by Omtzigt. Even a possible return to election is not ruled out. Wilders and his PVV have been rising through polls in these past months and may welcome this opportunity. Wilders is still focused on becoming prime minister in the future, tweeting that he will lead the country “with the support of even more Dutch people. If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow.”
