Dutch parties resume talks over new coalition government

The Hague, Jan 10 (IANS) Negotiations among major Dutch parties over the formation of a new coalition government have again resumed after a break for Christmas and the year end holidays.

The far-right populist Party for Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, won the general election by a landslide on November 22, 2023, reports Xinhua news agency.

PVV has now begun a negotiation process with the rightist People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the new centrist party New Social Contract (NSC), and the farmers' movement BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB).

The closed-door talks between party leaders Wilders, Caroline van der Plas of BBB, Dilan Yesilgoz of VVD and Pieter Omtzigt of NSC continued until late Tuesday in Hilversum, a city in the province of North Holland.

They negotiations are expected to last until Thursday.

Ronald Plasterk, who was appointed as a "scout" to talk to all parties about the formation of a coalition government, said that he wants to complete this phase by early February at the latest, before reporting to the chairman of the House of Representatives.

The main obstacles in the discussion are that the VVD wants to support, but does not want to join such a government.

Meanwhile, the NSC has severe constitutional objections to some of the PVV's ideas.

Since the elections Wilders has moderated his tone, and on Monday, in a move seen as a gesture of compromise he withdrew three controversial draft legislations he had submitted to the House of Representatives.

The draft bills have been heavily criticized, and have never had a parliamentary majority.

"The withdrawal of the three bills is a nice step forward and fits in with the promise Wilders made earlier," Van der Plas said on social media platform X.

"BBB now hopes, together with the other parties, to be able to discuss other important files in the coming weeks and to deal with the problems in the Netherlands."