Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders admitted he did not get off to a "dreamy" start in his bid to form a government after the man he appointed to oversee coalition talks quit amid fraud allegations before taking on the role, reported " Guardian".
Wilders and his Party for Freedom (PVV) won almost a quarter of the seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament in last Wednesday's election, about 10 seats more than expected.
As the leader of the largest party, and as is customary in Dutch politics, last week Wilders engaged PVV senator Gom van Strien to act as his hand-picked "scout" - a man tasked with moving between party leaders , to make a deal.
Over the weekend, however, allegations emerged in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper that Van Strien was one of several people accused by Utrecht Holdings of "irregularly" managing the companies spun off from Utrecht University and Utrecht University Medical Center. Although the senator dismissed all questions about his integrity and denied any allegations of fraud, on November 27 he withdrew from the political process.
"This weekend there were articles in the media about my past work questioning my integrity," he said. "In my opinion, the disturbances surrounding this and the preparation of a response to it are not related to my current work as a scout. That is why I have informed Geert Wilders and the Speaker of the Parliament that I will give up my duties as a scout."
Dutch coalition processes usually take months and it is not unusual for them to be interrupted by party politics. Wilders said he would be looking for a new intelligence officer "with more distance from politics" to attend the first meetings, which will be with him, Green Left/Liberal Party leader Frans Timmermans, VVD leader Dylan Yeshilgöz-Zegerius and head of Liberal Democrat D66 Rob Yetten.
Wilders, who said on the X show that he was determined to become "prime minister of this beautiful country", admitted to Dutch media that the debacle with Van Strien was not his "dream start" and criticized him for not informed about the legal situation. "Otherwise, you know it's just going to continue and you're going to have to spend the whole week denying or refuting it," Wilders said.
Although the future government could be made up of the PVV, the right-wing VVD (the party of current Prime Minister Mark Rutte), the New Social Contract party led by Pieter Omzigt, and the Dutch Farmers' Civil Movement (BBB) led by Karolina van der Plus, only the BBB has given a solid answer.
Having previously ruled out Wilders, Omzigt said the result should be respected and his party would "take responsibility". Yesilgöz-Zegerius has already said she would not take part in a Wilders government but would be willing to work within a confidence and supply agreement.
Raoul du Pré, political editor-in-chief of the Volkskrant, said such early statements were part of the formation's typical chess game in this disproportionately representative and fragmented political landscape. "The party that loses always says, 'We're going to make a move,'" he said.
Only if Wilders fails to form a coalition can another party, such as Timmermans' Green Left/Liberal Party, be invited to try. Although the largest party usually secures the Prime Minister, this is only a convention.
Meanwhile, economists at ING pointed out that based on the manifestos of the four right-wing parties - despite the fact that they all want strict limits on immigration - they would create a "significantly expansionary" economy that would "lead to greater demand for foreign workers". ./BGNES
