Was it a bad sign or an effective new working method of the informants? Confusion arose in The Hague on Wednesday about the meaning of the one-on-one conversations that the four negotiating parties had with informants Richard van Zwol and Elbert Dijkgraaf in recent days. Some explained it as a logical step in the process, others said it was an indication that the formation is once again faltering.
On Wednesday evening, the party leaders of the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB held joint consultations for the first time in almost a week. Last Thursday, and for the past three days, the informants received the faction leaders separately, sometimes with their seconds.
The four chief negotiators showed themselves to be reasonably optimistic during brief public press moments this week. “We are still very positive,” said Caroline van der Plas (BBB) on Tuesday evening, who even spoke about “dotting the i's” on Wednesday.
Other faction leaders were slightly more cautious. PVV leader Geert Wilders thought it would be “fine” to speak separately with the informants a few times, he responded. “I'm okay with anything as long as we make some progress.” According to him, there was no question of a final phase yet. This was agreed by Pieter Omtzigt (NSC), who praised the chosen form of one-on-one conversations. “I think the informants have chosen a very wise format.”
'Marriage of convenience'
On Wednesday, just before the new joint consultation, they emerged almost simultaneously The Telegraph and A.D Reports indicate that the process is actually “extremely slow” and that “the brakes are being applied.” Finances would be a sticking point. It has been known for some time that the differences between VVD and NSC, which strive for frugality, and PVV and BBB, which want to spend more, are quite large.
After the joint conversation on Wednesday evening, which lasted almost two hours, the key players were very enthusiastic. Van der Plas and Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) avoided the waiting journalists. Wilders called the question of whether he is positive about the development of the formation “a complicated question”. “Every day there is a bump to overcome.” During cabinet formations, Omtzigt said, “discussions can sometimes be more intensive than usual.” He called the cabinet that the four right-wing parties are negotiating “a marriage of convenience, at best.”
Second phase
Earlier in the day, and also in recent days, several people involved explained the individual conversations in a much more positive way. In any case, the two informants' working methods differ greatly from those of their many predecessors in previous cabinet formations.
They already explained what they intend to do with it last Thursday. That afternoon it turned out that NSC leader Omtzigt, without announcement, had spoken separately with the two informants for at least an hour and a half after the regular conversation. According to Richard van Zwol, the first phase of their series of conversations was completed after two weeks, in which all the main topics identified by the previous informant Kim Putters were discussed. In the second phase that has now begun, “we are going into depth with all parties, sometimes all together at the conference table and sometimes a bilateral conversation is necessary.”
Elbert Dijkgraaf added: “If you speak to a group leader separately, you can often speak more confidentially than in the group.” The SGP member explained what specific questions had been asked, for example during the meeting with Omtzigt and his second Eddy van Hijum. “How are you doing in the competition? What are important things for you? What makes you say, 'I definitely don't want that!'?”
Informant Van Zwol agreed on Monday that based on the first round(s) of discussions, they are “slowly” trying to get some building blocks for a potential coalition agreement “on paper”. These draft texts are now submitted separately to the four negotiating teams, so that they can still work on them.
The choice for this specific negotiation formula – first jointly, then bilaterally and then jointly again – has to do with the explicit instruction that the coalition agreements should not be too detailed this time, but will only be made in broad outlines. This means that not all topics need to be discussed in detail.
For this reason, no 'side tables' have been set up in this formation, the consultation between the spokespersons and specialists of the participating factions on specific policy areas. In the previous formations, it was at those side tables where the draft paragraphs for the coalition agreement on, for example, finance, agriculture or climate were written. The faction leaders at the 'main table' then had to assess these: adopt, refine or reject. That preliminary phase in the negotiation process does not currently exist.
Difficult conversations or not, the informants announced later in the evening that negotiations will continue this Thursday, again in one-on-one conversations. Van Zwol denied that the talks are going smoothly, but indicated that the financial puzzle is “complicated”. “In recent formations, more could be solved with money, but now it is not in abundance.”
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