The four negotiating parties will continue discussions today under the leadership of informants Elbert Dijkgraaf and Richard van Zwol. The informants have designated this week in advance as the finals week. It could still go either way. The forming parties are now preparing for a so-called blame game, sees political reporter Mats Akkerman.
Forming parties continue to talk after the rest on Ascension Day
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The informants have emphasized that this week, despite Ascension Day, lasts until Sunday. This means that discussions will continue today, and possibly over the weekend, Akkerman believes. The informants have designated this week in advance as the final week. But the final report can always come on Monday, Tuesday or at the very last minute on Wednesday. The real deadline for the final report is Wednesday, May 15.
‘We need a few more days. This will probably also happen this weekend. That means that we will go to any lengths to try to get out of it,” PVV leader Geert Wilders said earlier. Informer Dijkgraaf stated that things could certainly still go wrong. ‘There are difficult hurdles that we have to overcome, and it must prove that we can overcome them.’
Blame game
According to Akkerman, the parties are all trying to convey that they still want and can find a solution. He expects that this has to do with the so-called blame game. The forming parties want to show: if it fails, it was not my fault. PVV, VVD and BBB in particular clearly show the will to make the formation successful. NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt often sounds a bit more somber. Although, according to Akkerman, we could possibly call it more realistic.
Also read | Politicians must be playing the ‘blame game’ in formation
The hope was to possibly reach an agreement before Ascension Day. That did not work. This was not a hard deadline, but rather a wish of the parties.
