Not a new government yet after 3 months of negotiating

“Right-wing cabinet has one foot in the grave”  sums up the atmosphere as the coalition negotiations in the Netherlands are back in the headlines with a vengeance. Doing business with Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party is beyond the pale for many Christian Democrats, and now caretaker Health Minister and senior Christian Democrat Ab Klink has walked away from the negotiating table. He’s abandoned his party leader and negotiating partner Maxime Verhagen after a day-long row, in what some describes as a clash of pragmatism and principles. Pragmatic Mr Verhagen still wants to steam ahead with a mooted coalition with the rightwing VVD, propped up by parliamentary support from the Freedom Party. Principled Mr Klink has had enough.

The coalition talks have come under heavy fire from a string of Christian Democrat elder statesmen, notably former prime minister Ruud Lubbers, who according to “sources” has “secretly sabotaged” the coalition negotiations by putting pressure on Ab Klink to pull the plug.
Here  a roundup of the objections from the Christian Democrat heavyweights: “We’re risking dependence on a party that sees the religion of 1.5 million people in this country as a political ideology” (Cees Veerman). “The Freedom Party is getting an ounce of accountability and a kilo of authority” (Doekle Terpstra). “Do we want to live on a life support machine with Wilders operating the button?” (former prime minister Dries van Agt). “Foreign governments will frown on a country where a party with opinions like those of the Freedom Party have bargained such a prominent position for themselves” (a letter from the heavyweights in chorus).

So what next? As far as Christian Democrat leader Maxime Verhagen is concerned, the coalition talks are still on, but the press is already moving forward. Newspapers run through all the possible coalition line-ups all over again,  providing handy pie charts illustrating how the parliamentary majorities add up. One thing is clear: no one is suggesting any options that take in Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party.