Final week of cabinet formation begins with leaks of ‘draft coalition agreement’ by PVV, which hopes that time pressure will do its job

As if it had been agreed, PVV negotiator Gidi Markuszower walked into the room where PVV, VVD, BBB and NSC have been negotiating for months about a new cabinet, shortly before noon on Monday with a visible ‘main lines agreement 2024-2028’ under his arm.

The A4 sheet states, among other things, that the four parties aim for ‘billions in tax relief for middle-income workers’ and that the new cabinet will strive for the ‘strictest admission regime for asylum ever’. These are well-known positions of the four parties, so in that respect these agreements are not surprising. The question is exactly how they want to make asylum stricter and where the billions should come from. That is not clear from the photographed A4 sheet.

But the fact that anything is on paper at all can in any case be interpreted as a signal that the PVV wants to make it appear as if an agreement is imminent.

Wrap things up

Earlier Monday morning, PVV leader Geert Wilders also emphasized that he hopes that there will be a new cabinet with the PVV as the largest party. ‘I would be joking if I said it was easy. But often, under time pressure, things may still work out,’ says Wilders. ‘I hope and think that we have a good will to get out of it.’

Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) and Caroline van de Plas (BBB) ​​also expressed positive views about the upcoming crucial negotiation week before the start of the talks on Monday. ‘https://twitter.com/DilanYesilgoz/status/1787385392439697593 and there will be a cabinet as soon as possible,” Yesilgöz wrote on messaging platform X.

BBB leader Van der Plas also said he assumes that it will be possible to form a cabinet together. ‘There are still four of us here. Everyone is still keen to form a cabinet.’

NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt did not want to say whether he was positive, but only said: ‘We are going to do our utmost.’

Crucial week

Wilders agreed that the ‘hour of truth’ has arrived for the cabinet formation: ‘It is an important and exciting week’. Yesilgöz spoke of ‘the final phase of this information round’. Discussion leaders Richard van Zwol and Elbert Dijkgraaf previously spoke of the ‘final week’ of the cabinet formation.

In the coming days, the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB must conclude an outline agreement for an extra-parliamentary cabinet. Time is running out, because the House of Representatives must receive a decision by May 15 (next Wednesday) at the latest: will that right-wing extra-parliamentary cabinet be formed or not?

On Friday, the parties received the calculations from the Central Planning Bureau, which examined the financial and economic consequences of plans that are on the formation table. This week, based on those figures, the parties will have to decide which election promises can be fulfilled and which simply prove to be too expensive.

It is expected that the four party leaders will continue to discuss a possible agreement on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday is Ascension Day, so the aim is to have a draft agreement on which the parties agree before then.