Negotiations to form a government following right-wing populist Geert Wilders’ election victory in the Netherlands stalled shortly before they began.
Gom van Strien, the mediator hired by Wilders to lead the negotiations, announced his resignation today, after the media reported allegations of fraud at his former company. The “unrest” surrounding the reports and the time needed to respond appropriately “does not fit with my job” as a mediator, van Strien explained.
Van Strien should have started negotiations today
The senator from Wilders’ PVV party continued that he therefore informed Wilders and the President of Parliament of his resignation from the task. Van Strien should have formally started talks today to form a coalition and met with party leaders.
The PVV won 37 of 150 seats in Wednesday’s elections. Forming a government is traditionally difficult in the Netherlands due to the highly fragmented political system. It often takes four or more parties to form a government. The task, no longer easy, became even more complicated for Wilders after the leader of the long-time bourgeois-conservative ruling party, VVD, indicated that she did not want to join the government.