Formation of Dutch government advances as far right Wilders admits he can’t be PM

Talks on forming a new Dutch government are likely to progress from exploratory discussions to more substantive negotiations, according to media reports, after the far-right leader, Geert Wilders, accepted he could not be prime minister.

Nearly four months after Wilders’ anti-Islam, anti-immigration Freedom party (PVV) became the largest in parliament, Kim Putters, the former socialist senator overseeing the discussions, was due on Thursday to present a report on their progress.

Media outlets including the public broadcaster NOS said the report would indicate the four parties involved – PVV, the liberal-conservative VVD, the agrarian BBB and the centre-right newcomer NSC – could pursue a so-called “extra-parliamentary” cabinet.

Wilders on Wednesday reluctantly conceded he lacked the support among his prospective coalition allies to be the next prime minister. He said on Thursday only the populist BBB leader, Caroline van der Plas, had fully backed his ambitions.

His forced withdrawal was unjust, he said, but the formation of a right-wing cabinet came first: “In the end, no matter how much it hurts and how unfair I think it is and how constitutionally wrong it is, I made the decision not to choose my own position.”

Media reports said a technocratic cabinet – made up of experts from outside politics or loosely tied to parties, with all four coalition leaders staying in parliament – was the price NSC, in particular, had demanded for supporting a PVV-led majority government.

NOS said that if this plan was pursued, the normally detailed coalition agreement – a more-or-less binding blueprint for government – would probably be shorter and less specific, with parliament having a significantly greater say on individual policies.

The Netherlands has not had such a government since 1918 but the concept is familiar in other European countries, including Italy. It was unclear how exactly it would work in the Netherlands, although Wilders would be likely to propose the new premier.

Campaigning on a populist, anti-immigration platform, the PVV won 37 seats in the November election – far more than expected, but well short of a majority in the 150-seat parliament. The four would-be coalition partners have 88 MPs between them.

Wilders said on Thursday many people who voted for the PVV expecting him to be prime minister if it emerged as the largest party were angry, “and I’m just as angry as they are”. But he said a right-wing cabinet could “achieve a lot for the Netherlands”.

Political commentators said Wilders’ decision might prove positive for him. “As party leader in parliament, he can continue to play a freer, critical role,” said NOS’s political editor, Xander van der Wulp. “He won’t have to act in the name of the four partners.”

Parliament is expected to debate Putters’ report next week before deciding on the next step. Talks so far between the four parties have been tense, with NSC’s leader, Pieter Omtzigt, walking out in February over irreconcilable differences with Wilders.

The far-right firebrand, who has had to drop anti-constitutional manifesto pledges including bans on mosques, the Qur’an and Islamic headscarves as well as a “Nexit” referendum on leaving the EU, insisted on Wednesday he would be premier one day.

“With the support of even more Dutch people – if not tomorrow, then the day after,” he said on X. “The voice of millions of Dutch people will be heard!”