Dutch govt on brink of collapse as Wilders' far-right party quits
Wilders' PVV exits coalition, likely triggering new election
THE HAGUE: Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his PVV party out of the governing coalition on Tuesday amid a row over tougher migration policies, in a move that will 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. Schoof has not yet reacted publicly, but was expected to do so after an emergency cabinet meeting, which started in the early afternoon. Wilders' surprise move ends a fragile coalition which has struggled to reach consensus since its installation last July. The prospect of a new election adds to political uncertainty in the Netherlands. It would likely delay a decision on boosting defense 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.
Disbelief
Wilders' coalition partners responded with disbelief and anger to his decision. 'This is irresponsible, this is no moment to walk away,' finance minister, Eelco Heinen, of the conservative VVD party, told reporters before he entered the crisis cabinet meeting. 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 leader Dilan 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.' 'The most obvious outcome will be new elections after the summer, end of October, November,' said political scientist Joep van Lit at Radboud University in Nijmegen. The question is whether voters will see this as a failure by Wilders' PVV party to obtain what they wanted on immigration, or whether they will consider the party was obstructed by others and give them a bigger mandate, van Lit said.
Divided
Voters were divided over what they hope would come next. A new election seemed logical, said Amsterdam 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, speaking in The Hague, 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% of the vote. Polls put his party at around 20 percent of the vote now, on par roughly with the Labor/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
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