On Monday evening, the VVD, D66, CDA and the ChristenUnie put an end to the longest formation talks in parliamentary history. The parties negotiated for 271 days. A look back on the basis of nine key moments.
March 17: Elections
Under the leadership of party leader Mark Rutte, the VVD once again becomes the largest party in the Netherlands with 34 seats. D66 is the second party with 24 seats. The ChristenUnie will retain the five seats. The CDA is the only cabinet party to lose: the Christian Democrats go from 19 to 15 seats.
March 25: Note ‘function elsewhere’
A few weeks after the elections, the first negotiation talks come to an abrupt halt due to a positive corona test from then explorer Kajsa Ollongren. Shortly after the news, she hastily packs her things. Wearing a mask and hood, she gets into a waiting car at the Binnenhof. ANP photographer Bart Maat records the scene and later discovers that the text can be read on Ollongren’s documents: a political riot is born.
The A4, for example, states that there has been talk of a ‘position elsewhere’ for the then CDA MP Pieter Omtzigt, who in the previous months had become involved in the Allowances affair, which the cabinet fell over. When parliamentary reporters ask outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) whether he has spoken to the scouts about Omtzigt, he denies this in front of rotating cameras. Rutte states that D66 leader Sigrid Kaag has not spoken about the CDA member either.
April 1: Marathon debate
If later it turns out that Rutte did talk about Omtzigt’s role during the reconnaissance talks, he has to answer to an angry House of Representatives. The VVD leader has to fight for his political life and states in a marathon debate that he “has no memory” of a conversation about the CDA MP. The opposition is shocked. The coalition parties are also critical: Wopke Hoekstra (CDA) speaks of a “total mess” and D66 leader Kaag speaks the words “this is where our ways separate”.
Also read our analysis after the debate: Rutte loses control over formation
Yet it is Kaag and Hoekstra who rescue Rutte a few hours later. The CDA and D66 do not support a motion of no confidence against the incumbent prime minister and thus keep him in the saddle. A politically weakened Rutte apologizes, but knows that he can move on.
April 3: Segers closes the door
In the formation talks, the VVD and the CDA opt for a restart with the ChristenUnie and the D66. ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers seems to be closing that door by stating that he no longer wants to work with Rutte in a new cabinet. In an interview with the Dutch daily newspaper Segers says that he may want to govern with the VVD, but he rules out a new collaboration with the leader of that party.
Because D66 is not enthusiastic about further cooperation with the ChristenUnie, partly because of conflicting positions on medical-ethical issues, there are few options left for a cabinet Rutte IV. GroenLinks and the PvdA have repeatedly stated that they are open to negotiations, but only act together. The CDA and the VVD oppose this tactic. Both parties emphasize that there is room at the negotiating table for one of the two left-wing parties. In the months that follow, that political stalemate paralyzes talks about a new cabinet.
June 10: Omtzigt leaves CDA
Pieter Omtzigt passes a damning judgment on the CDA in a 76-page document. The document is intended for a committee investigating the election defeat, but has been released to the public. Omtzigt believes, among other things, that he has been opposed within his party as a critical power controller. He calls Rutte lll an “agreement factory” and suggests that lenders could influence the CDA program. After the internal criticism has come out, Omtzigt leaves the group. He leaves behind a party that sinks far in the polls.
August 31: Minority Cabinet
In the summer months, the VVD, CDA, ChristenUnie, PvdA and GroenLinks talk to former informer Mariëtte Hamer. Kaag would prefer to negotiate with the two left-wing parties, but VVD and CDA flatly refuse to do so. At the end of August, those parties announced that they did not want to continue with the left-wing bloc. Because D66 does not like the ChristenUnie – where Segers has since returned from the statement that he never wants to rule under Rutte again – the next informant should, according to Hamer, look at a minority coalition.
Also read: A note lying around from VVD and CDA sheds new light on the formation
September 6: Kaag lashes out at Rutte
Without naming him, Kaag lashes out at Rutte. In the HJ Schoo lecture, she calls political leadership “the opposite of arranging and rustling without vision.” She also criticizes the “way of doing politics, drinking coffee, managing relationships and playing games indoors.” In a parliamentary debate, Kaag later denies that she personally targeted Rutte.
September 29: Still Christian Union
Informer Johan Remkes is forcing a breakthrough in the formation talks that have been stuck for months. He is aiming for negotiations between the VVD, CDA, ChristenUnie and D66. The latter party has finally resigned after six months of struggle and is entering into talks with the ChristenUnie. For example, the existing coalition constellation appears to be extended.
In the so-called ‘confessional procedure’, Remkes had spoken to each party leader individually for one last time about their wishes for a new cabinet. In the interview with Kaag, the informant hinted that one of the most promising options was that of a minority cabinet of VVD, CDA and D66. Because the D66 leader found that combination even more unattractive than a majority coalition with the ChristenUnie, she decided to take the plunge. Segers had previously admitted that he was open to a new cabinet led by Rutte.
December 13: Agree
The four parties are negotiating under the leadership of Remkes and Wouter Koolmees. Kaag expresses the hope of getting it out before Christmas and the other people involved are also hopeful. The new coalition seems to agree on billions of funds for climate and nitrogen policy. Significantly more money will probably also go to education and defence. The parties are thinking of abolishing the loan system and want to make childcare free for minimum wages. The parties reach an agreement on December 13.
#key #moments #longest #formation