Right-wing coalition plans adrift. “We need to talk,” says BBB

 

Right-wing coalition plans adrift. “We need to talk,” says BBB

November 30, 2023

https://www.dutchnews.nl/2023/11/right-wing-coalition-plans-adrift-we-need-to-talk-says-bbb/

 

A four-way coalition between the biggest four right-wing parties seemed a long way off on Thursday with Geert Wilders accusing Pieter Omtzigt of playing political games, and Caroline van der Plas calling for a face to face meeting rather than communication via social media.

 

Van der Plas, founder of pro-countryside party BBB, called on the three right-wing parties that won most seats in last week’s election to stop talking at each other via online messages and to get around the negotiating table.

 

Van der Plas, whose party won seven seats in parliament but is the biggest in the senate, said after her talks with coalition scout Ronald Plasterk that the VVD and NSC should join the far-right PVV and her own party for an initial conversation.

 

The VVD has said it will not join a new cabinet and the NSC has objections to several of the PVV’s policies.

 

Justice should be done to the result of the election, she said, and the Netherlands has given a clear signal that it wants a centre-right coalition. “Whether or not you reach a deal is secondary,” she said. “But it is bizarre that we are not even talking to each other.”

 

In particular, PVV leader Geert Wilders should be given the opportunity to explain which of his plans he will put on ice to meet NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt’s objections, she said. 

 

Wilders told Nieuwsuur during the campaign he was prepared to put the policies that have defined his party for 25 years into cold storage, such as a ban on the Qur’an and closing Islamic schools.

 

Omtzigt has said repeatedly that he cannot support parts of Wilders’ policy which he considers to be undemocratic, and this remains a problem, he reiterated on Wednesday.

 

Wilders said later on social media that he and Omtzigt had spoken in his office for more than an hour on Monday. “It is a pity he forgot to mention that,” Wilders said. “Political games.”

 

D66

 

Plasterk also spoke to Rob Jetten, leader of the liberal democratic party D66, which won 10 seats and is the fifth biggest in parliament. He said after the meeting that “the conservative right and the far right have a clear majority in parliament”.

 

A coalition of the PVV, VVD, BBB and NSC is the “most logical combination of parties to start the talks,” he said. 

 

Plasterk is due to report back to parliament on his progress next week.