While his party came out on top in the last legislative elections, far-right leader Geert Wilders announced on Wednesday March 13 that he would not be Prime Minister. Negotiations that began four months ago failed to create a coalition to govern.
Coming in first with his party during the Dutch legislative elections in November 2023 , the populist and Islamophobic candidate Geert Wilders, of the Party for Freedom (PVV), announced Wednesday March 13, 2024 that he would ultimately not be the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. -Down. Nearly four months after the elections, he was unable to obtain sufficient support from other political parties to form a coalition.
The announcement comes a day before the much-anticipated report was released, just after Dutch media reported a breakthrough in negotiations that could lead to the formation of an “extra-parliamentary” government or technocrats, in which Geert Wilders could not be Prime Minister.
The formation of an impossible coalition
“I can only become Prime Minister if ALL parties in the coalition support me. This was not the case,” he declared on the social network X, almost four months after the legislative elections.
Political parties are ready to take a “next step” in forming a government following “good” and “intense” discussions on Monday and Tuesday, according to the negotiations supervisor.
Still on the social network X, Geert Wilders announced he wanted “a right-wing cabinet. Less asylum and immigration. The Dutch first.”
He also claims that his “love” for his country and his voters “are great and more important” than his “own position”.
Ik kan alleen premier worden als ALLE partijen in de coalitie dat steunen. Dat was niet zo.
Ik wil graag een rechts kabinet. Minder asiel en immigratie. Nederlanders op 1.
De liefde voor mijn land en kiezer is groot en belangrijker dan mijn eigen positie.
Ik hou van NL ❤️
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) March 13, 2024
“I will become prime minister one day,” says Wilders
The exact composition of a cabinet of technocrats has yet to be defined, but such a scenario means that the leaders of the parties in talks – including Wilders – must remain MPs.
The members of the government should then be appointed by the political parties: they could be recruited from within the broader membership of the parties, or even from outside politics, according to the Dutch media.
“Don’t forget: I will one day become Prime Minister of the Netherlands. With the support of even more Dutch people , the far-right leader published in the evening. If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. Because the voices of millions of Dutch people will be heard! »
Four months of unsuccessful negotiations
In the highly fragmented Dutch political system, where no party is strong enough to govern alone, the announcement of the results of the legislative elections generally marks the start of months of negotiations. Since November, Geert Wilders has tried to convince different parties, but in vain.
The leader of the Freedom Party (PVV) first tried to gain a government majority with the liberal VVD party, the agricultural party BBB, and the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) party.
But negotiations in this direction ended in an impasse last month, when the head of the NSC, Pieter Omtzigt, abruptly withdrew from the negotiations, citing the lamentable state of Dutch public finances, recalls Agence France Presse.
Pieter Omtzigt had previously expressed concerns about Wilders’ manifesto, a climate-sceptical and Islamophobic text, that notably advocates a ban on mosques and the Koran, as well as the Netherlands’ exit from the EU.
