Though nearly four months have passed since the national election, the formation of a government is still not complete. The three parties at the core of the new government, VVD, D66 and CDA, did not succeed in forming a new cabinet before the summer recess, which started on 9 July. ‘By the summer’ was the deadline that the three parties and the two non-partisan negotiators had set for the coalition government formation. With a stalemate still at hand, it’s beginning to look like August or later before the new government will be created.
The three top parties continue to meet with the smaller parties and have at least narrowed the candidates down to two or three of the remaining left-leaning parties. But the VVD doesn’t want to work with the GreenLeft (GroenLinks) and prefers to have the Christian Union (CU) in the fold, just as it did in 2017. The number two party in the coalition, D66, prefers to work with GroenLinks and the Labour Party (PvdA), instead of with the CU. If this sounds familiar, it is. It’s the same status we reported on in last month’s edition.
While the formation talks are still ongoing, the current cabinet continues to perform its duties, as it is supposed to until a new government is formed after the election. And it seems that with the duties of the government still working on other extremely pressing issues facing the Dutch government, formation talks have taken the back burner. The subject of the new cabinet formation is hardly headlining news these days, especially since summer is here and everyone is eager to go on vacation. It’s not surprising that the formation talks have taken the backseat for the time being. Several urgent issues have undoubtedly taken the attention away from the coalition talks in The Hague.
The number three party, the CDA, went through a rough patch in the last few weeks. In the party’s election of a new leader last year, current minister of Health Hugo de Jonge beat the highly popular Peter Omtzigt. Neither was Omtzigt made the Parliament’s fraction leader. Feeling undervalued, especially after his work to bring to light the childcare allowance scandal, Omtzigt in February stated he was suffering from burnout and would not be working for a while. However, the March elections showed him to be by far the most popular CDA politician, leaving the party’s leadership in doubt. In June, Omtzigt published a 75-page document highlighting everything that is wrong with the CDA, including the disgraceful way in which Omtzigt was treated. Shortly after, Omtzigt left the CDA, taking his seat in Parliament along with him. This internal turmoil shook the CDA, and put the coalition talks even further behind.
In any case, the current government has other issues to worry about. Recently, with the relaxation of the corona measures, the country (and most of the world) has seen an increase in the number of Covid infections. This, and the rapid spread of the latest Delta variant, has the current government scrambling to prevent further spreading of the corona virus while still keeping society open, the economy churning and everyone’s summer vacation from being cancelled. For now, prime minister Mark Rutte and Health minister Hugo de Jonge have announced that clubs are closed again and festivals have been cancelled, but it remains to be seen whether this is enough to keep the country from going into a new lockdown or restrictions.
And finally, just last week the famous crime journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot on Lange Leidsestraat in Amsterdam. This ‘attack on free journalism’, as premier Rutte said, has the nation in shock and the government in reaction mode to respond to this horrific incident. The alleged perpetrators are associated with the organized crime ring whose leader was captured last year and is on trial for his crimes. De Vries was acting as an advisor to the main prosecution witness, an endeavor could cost him his life – he is still in the hospital fighting for his life.
With all that is going on in the national and in politics, coupled with the impasse between the leaders of the three parties making up the foundation of the future coalition government, it’s not surprising that the coverage of the coalition talks has quieted down in recent weeks. Still, a new government is badly needed, as new legislation cannot be passed without one. We’ve heard many deadlines and all have passed. Now we hear that August is the new deadline; we will see.
Written by Marla Thomson