Wilders wants to push through with right-wing Cabinet

 

WEDNESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2024 - 17:50

https://nltimes.nl/2024/02/28/wilders-wants-push-right-wing-cabinet

Wilders wants to push through with right-wing Cabinet

PVV leader Geert Wilders wants to quickly proceed with the formation of a right-wing Cabinet. “It’s taken long enough,” he said upon arrival with formation leader Kim Putters. Wilders believes the PVV, NSC, VVD, and BBB are “dependent on each other” because most other parties do not want to govern with his parties.

 

For weeks, the four parties discussed cooperation in a right-wing majority Cabinet, until the NSC pulled out. The still-young party of former CDA member Pieter Omtzigt still keeps the door open for other forms of cooperation, but what that entails remains unclear.

 

Putters first met with Wilders on Wednesday morning. In the afternoon, Pieter Omtzigt (NSC) and Caroline van der Plas (BBB) will meet with him together for a follow-up discussion. No new appointment has yet been scheduled with VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz.

 

Putters received almost all party leaders from the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, on Monday and Tuesday to discuss how to proceed with the stalled Cabinet formation. He said he found those conversations “constructive” and “enlightening” but acknowledged that he still has a complex puzzle to solve.

 

Wilders reached out to the other parties on Saturday. After two years of his party strongly opposing any form of support for Ukraine, he said that the PVV was willing to discuss it. The PVV leader spoke of “an important opening” that indicates that he is serious about quickly achieving right-wing cooperation.

 

Just two days after Wilders’ change of tone, the PVV faction in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, voted against a new support package for Ukraine. The Senate passed the adjustment to the budget to guarantee loans of up to 2 billion euros for Ukraine without the PVV support.

 

Wilders called his Senators’ vote “quite logical” on Wednesday. “I said we need to talk about it,” he said. “And not that we will vote differently two days later without one word having been exchanged.”

 

The other parties were less forgiving. Wilders’ “anointing words” did not amount to much, said GroenLinks-PvdA MP Jesse Klaver. “The PVV is not only letting Ukrainians down, but their attitude is also a direct threat to our national security.

 

D66 MP Jan Paternotte is also critical. “A new line from the PVV about Ukraine? Looks like no,” he said on X. “Today, the PVV again voted against necessary support. As before, against arms support, against Russia sanctions, against humanitarian support, against F16s.”

 

Reporting by ANP and NL Times