Dutch government on brink of collapse after Wilders' far-right party quits

Business Times

2 days ago

[AMSTERDAM] Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders' PVV party left the governing coalition on Tuesday (Jun 3), in a move that is set to topple the right wing government and likely lead to new elections.
A possible snap election would come as the hard right is growing in Europe, with anger over migration and the cost of living at risk of eroding Europe's unity over how to deal with Russia and with US President Donald Trump.
Wilders said his party was pulling out because the other three coalition partners were not willing to support his ideas on asylum and immigration.
'No signature under our asylum plans. The PVV leaves the coalition,' Wilders said in a post on X.
Wilders said he had informed Prime Minister Dick Schoof that all ministers from his PVV party would quit the government. Schoof has not yet reacted publicly, but called an emergency Cabinet meeting, which began at around 1:30 pm (1130 GMT).
Wilders' surprise move ends a fragile coalition which has struggled to reach consensus since its installation last July.
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The prospect of a new election adds to political uncertainty in the Netherlands.
It would likely delay a decision on boosting defence spending to meet new Nato targets, and would leave the Netherlands with only a caretaker government when it receives world leaders for a Nato summit later this month.
Elsewhere in Europe, nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki narrowly won Poland's presidential election on Sunday, while the Czech Republic's eurosceptic opposition leader Andrej Babis leads opinion polls before an October election.
In Romania, however, the centrist Bucharest mayor, Nicusor Dan, won the presidential vote last month, in a shock upset over his hard-right, nationalist rival.
Disbelief
Wilders' coalition partners responded with disbelief and anger to his decision.
'There is a war on our continent. Instead of meeting the challenge, Wilders is showing he is not willing to take responsibility,' said the leader of the conservative VVD party, Dilan Yesilgoz.
'It is irresponsible to take down the government at this point,' centrist NSC party leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven said.
The others parties now have the option to try and proceed as a minority government, though they are not expected to.
Opposition parties on Tuesday called for new elections.
'I see no other way to form a stable government,' said Frans Timmermans, the leader of the Labour/Green combination.
VVD's Yesilgoz said she did not want to exclude any options. Junior coalition party BBB leader Caroline van der Plas said: 'This coalition is done. But maybe other parties see a way forward.'
Divided
In the streets of Amsterdam, voters were divided over what they hope a fresh vote could bring.
A new election seemed logical, said resident Michelle ten Berge, who hoped 'that with the new elections we will choose ... a government that's more moderate.'
But florist Ron van den Hoogenband hoped Wilders would emerge the winner and control parliament 'so he can do like Trump is doing and other European countries where the extreme right is taking over.'
Wilders won the most recent election in November 2023 with a surprisingly wide margin of 23 per cent of the vote.
Polls put his party at around 20 per cent of the vote now, on par roughly with the Labour/Green combination that is currently the second-largest in parliament.
Wilders had last week demanded immediate support for a ten-point plan that included closing the borders for asylum seekers, sending refugees from Syria back to their home country and shutting down asylum shelters.
Other ideas were to expel migrants convicted of serious crimes and to boost border controls.
Migration has been a divisive issue in Dutch politics for years. The previous government, led by current Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, also collapsed after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration in 2023, triggering the election won by Wilders.
Wilders, who was convicted for discrimination against Moroccans in 2016, was not part of the latest government himself as its leader or a minister.
He only managed to strike a coalition deal with three other conservative parties last year after he failed to garner coalition support to become prime minister.
Instead, the Cabinet was led by the independent and unelected Schoof, a career bureaucrat. REUTERS