VVD stays in minority cabinet for now, talks go on
The coalition of D66, VVD and CDA has not fallen, but VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz calls the minority cabinet a failed experiment and the talks will continue over the weekend.
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Illustrative photo: MatteoNL97 / CC BY-SA 4.0
The VVD is staying in the minority cabinet for now, but the crisis is not over: Prime Minister Rob Jetten (D66) said after about six hours of talks on Friday with deputy prime ministers Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) and Bart van den Brink (CDA) that the talks will continue this weekend. The talks began at 11:30. The Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, the government information service, had announced Jetten's press conference at 19:30.
Yesilgöz said: "The cabinet as it is now, a minority cabinet, is a failed experiment." She said D66 and CDA made a deal with the left "behind our backs". A party could join the cabinet to restore balance, she said. She also wants more done for entrepreneurs.
“There were supposed to be migration restrictions. Work would start to pay. Entrepreneurs would get room. None of it happened. The VVD stands by and watches. The liberals choose themselves instead of the Netherlands. What our country needs is an end to the Jetten cabinet and new elections.”
Yesilgöz said she has drawn no conclusions yet and that going to the king together "can still" be an outcome, but not today. She added that she does not want to plunge the country into elections.
“No agreements have been made with farmers to my knowledge, Mr Jetten. #persconferentie #Jetten #kabinetscrisis”
Jetten said the tax plan process should have gone better: "It does not exactly do us credit that it has taken so many weeks and months of talks and debate to reach a decision on the tax plan." He said he is taking a hard look at his own part in it and that all three parties can learn lessons.
“Incredible that the VVD, humiliated to the bone, isn't walking out immediately today. Political suicide. #nieuweverkiezingen”
Tensions in the coalition peaked on Thursday, when the Tweede Kamer passed the Belastingplan (the annual tax package) with a bare majority. D66 and CDA had backed an amendment by Pro and Volt without the VVD, which voted against. The amendment shifts €1bn to tax relief for working people, paid for by a slightly higher tax on returns on capital.
The VVD has called for a "fundamental reset" of the cooperation. Jetten has said he wants to talk about a "a serious relaunch" for the coalition. The council of ministers (Ministerraad), due to start around 12:30, was delayed until the talks ended.
Before the talks, Van den Brink said the CDA believes in continuing the cooperation with D66 and the VVD and wants to do so. He also criticised the VVD's stance on the tax plan: "Being angry doesn't mean you're right."
The tax plan still has to pass the Eerste Kamer, the Senate, where a majority is not certain.
Jetten will not travel to Sint Eustatius on Sunday, nor on to Sint Maarten, because he is continuing the crisis talks, the RVD government information service said, citing the current political situation. He was due to attend Statia Day on Monday, which marks 250 years since the First Salute. King Willem-Alexander is still going to Sint Eustatius for the celebration.
Source: Tweede Kamer
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