The far right overthrows the Dutch government

BarcelonaThe Netherlands will have to hold new elections less than a year after forming a government. leader of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), Geert Wilders, announced this Tuesday that it is leaving the government coalition, formed by four right-wing and far-right parties, of which he was the majority shareholder. The reason, he explained, was differences over asylum policy, which he intended to restrict even further. Hours later, Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced that the entire government was "falling" and that the minority executive would no longer be maintained, which would require early elections.

The last elections were held in November 2023. Wilders' party swept the vote: doubled its seats – to 37 out of 150 – and won 12 more seats than the second-largest party, the Social Democrat and Green coalition. However, an agreement to form a government was slow in coming. It wasn't until May of last year, when Wilders himself announced the coalition, formed by the ultra-right PVV, the liberal VVD, a populist formation defending the peasantry (BBB) and a split from the traditional Christian Democrats (NSC). However, the government was not formally formed until July.

This Tuesday, Wilders announced on the X platform that he is bringing down the government of the fifth most populous country in the eurozone: "No signature for our asylum plans. No changes to the main government agreement. The PVV is leaving the coalition." He is referring to his demand that the agreement that formed the government last summer add an annex containing a ten-point plan to restrict the arrival of asylum seekers to the Netherlands.

Wilders made these new demands public last week, and had already threatened to break up the government. He demanded, among other things, that several measures be implemented "in the coming weeks," such as a complete halt to the entry of asylum seekers, the return of all Syrian refugees to their country of origin within six months, military border control, and the closure of refugee reception centers. The coalition partners responded that it was up to the Minister of Migration—from Wilders' party—to work on specific proposals. To try to avoid a mess, the leaders of the four parties met on Monday and met again this Tuesday morning, without success.

His partners call him irresponsible.

The leader of the PVV is not directly part of the government, although his party controls five of the fifteen ministries. But the possibility of maintaining a coalition government with the other three parties was highly unlikely, given that it would have left him with a very weak minority. The Prime Minister announced the resignation of the entire government at a press conference following an urgent cabinet meeting: "We have concluded that with the departure of the PVV, there is no longer sufficient support in Parliament for this cabinet." Schoof—an independent who was nominated by Wilders—criticized the far-right party's move and considered the fall of the government "unnecessary and irresponsible."

The PVV's three other coalition partners also reacted with indignation and disbelief. "That makes us look like fools," said Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the conservative VVD party, who reproached Wilders for having chosen "his ego and his interests." She asserted that the xenophobic leader had already set his sights on leaving the coalition because there was no concrete dispute. "He's throwing away the opportunity for a right-wing government," she lamented, adding: "There is a war on our continent. Instead of rising to the challenge, Wilders shows that he is not willing to take responsibility." The Netherlands will host the next annual NATO summit, to be held at the end of June in The Hague. "BK_SLT_LNA~ "It's really incomprehensible," said NSC leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven, who also considered that "it is irresponsible to bring down the government at this time." Caroline van der Plas, leader of the BBB peasants' party, echoed the sentiment, telling reporters that she was "very angry" and reproached Wilders for leaving the government "without leaving any room for negotiation." However, she said that she remained hopeful of avoiding new elections, although the government would be left with a very weak minority. The PVV has 37 seats in the Parliament and the other three partners had another 51. And given that the Dutch lower house has 150 seats, the cabinet needs 76 to govern with a majority.

The leader of the opposition, the Social Democrat Frans Timmermans, believes that the elections Early elections are the only possible option: "I don't see any other way to form a stable government."

The PVV came first in last November's elections, with 23% of the vote, but recent polls show the party has lost some support since entering the governing coalition. Polls now put it at around 20% of the vote, a figure similar to the voting intention it receives from the Social Democrat-Green coalition.