Smart move by Pieter Omtzigt? Or has he lost his credit?

Joop van den Ende sat opposite Pieter Omtzigt at Humberto Tan's talk show table on Tuesday evening. He understood, said the successful musical producer, that Omtzigt had suddenly decided earlier that evening to leave the formation process in The Hague. “It is not wrong to walk away from the table once in a while,” said Van den Ende. “Then the others will have to do their best to get him back.” Omtzigt laughed affably.

Playing hard to get is a proven negotiating tactic. You hope or expect that the conversation partners need you so much that they will make greater concessions to get you back to the table. Perhaps Omtzigt has thought back to the formation of 1994. Then VVD leader Frits Bolkestein decided after a month and a half to no longer talk to Wim Kok of the PvdA. Two months later, the first Purple cabinet was on the platform, with D66 and the VVD. Bolkestein sold it to his supporters as a success.

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However, the surprising step of ending talks with PVV, VVD and BBB with immediate effect could turn out very differently for Omtzigt. His (former) conversation partners are angry and irritated. On Wednesday afternoon, all three openly expressed their doubts about the reason given by Omtzigt for stopping the negotiations. All parties knew that there were possible additional financial setbacks, VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz “cannot really place this explanation”, she said on Wednesday. Behind the scenes, the VVD heard that there was a “perspective of agreement” on the finances between the parties. PVV leader Geert Wilders criticized Omtzigt's lack of sense of responsibility. “You can't say that if there are major financial problems: 'I'm running away now'.” Caroline van der Plas of BBB thought it was “a very strange move for someone who does not want to damage the rule of law and institutions.”

The way in which the leader of NSC left the negotiating table also led to surprise. Omtzigt had first released the news through three media outlets he selected and only shortly afterwards did he send an app to informant Ronald Plasterk and his fellow negotiators. They only heard more explanation from Omtzigt during the TV program Humberto late on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, Wilders, Yesilgöz and Van der Plas called on Omtzigt to accept Plasterk's invitation for a meeting in the House of Representatives, but NSC announced that Omtzigt will stay away. He is according to SBS program Heart of the Netherlands been home in Enschede since Tuesday evening, to take a few days of rest.

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'Retreating movements'

In the days before Omtzigt's decision, it was already clear that things were going difficult in the formation. The mutual irritations at Omtzigt had asked her to do so. Because the deadline of February 12 was approaching for informant Plasterk, the four parties continued to speak without him at the Ministry of Justice and Security on Monday. The question had to be answered whether they wanted to discuss the formation of a right-wing cabinet with each other. Then in The Telegraph When the message appeared that Omtzigt had made “retreating movements” there, he was quite annoyed, he told Humberto.

In his letter dated Tuesday, Omtzigt emphasizes that NSC is still “very aware” of “its responsibility for national government” and that the party wants to discuss support for a minority cabinet or an extra-parliamentary cabinet in the next phase. These are variants that Omtzigt already mentioned in the campaign, with a greater role for the House of Representatives. Many other parties, including VVD and BBB, were previously not very enthusiastic about this. These are also variants in which NSC does not have to join a cabinet and may gain a lot of influence from the House. Such a toleration is exactly what VVD leader Yesilgöz also wanted for her party.

It is now uncertain how much credit Omtzigt still has, and whether PVV, VVD and BBB are prepared to move in his direction. These parties heard on Wednesday that they might want to sit down with Omtzigt again, because many other workable right-wing variants are simply not possible. The only other numerical majority coalition – a cabinet through the middle with GroenLinks-PvdA, VVD, NSC and D66 – is considerably more left-wing and therefore a nightmare for the VVD supporters. And for that of the PVV. Geert Wilders immediately warned about this. “I hope that Omtzigt does not now open the door to a cabinet with Frans Timmermans by choosing to take the harp path. That is not what the voter wants. And yet not in the national interest?”

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