Geert Wilders, leader of far-right party PVV, pulled the plug on the coalition on Tuesday morning, accusing the other three parties of failing to support his plans to introduce the “toughest asylum regime ever”, as well as a 10-point plan announced at a press conference last week.
“No signature for our asylum plans, no changes to the main coalition agreement. The PVV is leaving the coalition,” Wilders said on social media.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof is now expected to present his resignation to King Willem-Alexander before the end of the day. New elections will not take place until the autumn.
At a press conference last week, Wilders presented a 10-point plan to reduce migration. He wanted to enlisting the Dutch army to secure and patrol the borders, close refugee accommodation facilities and send home all Syrian refugees on the grounds that their country is no longer high-risk.
On Monday, he demanded the three other party leaders “add their signatures” to the plans and ensure some measures are realised within a few weeks. Otherwise, he said, PVV would withdraw from the coalition.
The four parties met on Monday evening and again on Tuesday morning, when Wilders said he was leaving.
BBB leader Caroline van der Plas said she was extremely angry and described Wilders’ action as “irresponsible”.
“He has all the cards in his hand and yet he just pulls the plug,” she told reporters.
Nicolien van Vroonhoven, who replaced Pieter Omtzigt as leader of centre-right party NSC, said the decision was “incomprehensible”, while Dilan Yesilgoz, leader of the second biggest coalition party VVD, said there was no difference of opinion between the parties and that she was extremely angry.
“We had a right-wing majority and he lets it all go for his ego,” Yesilgoz told reporters. “He’s just doing what he wants.” Wilders, she said, did not want to accept responsibility and had abandoned his voters.
Opposition party leaders in the Netherlands have welcomed news of the cabinet's collapse, with Henri Bontebal of centre-right party CDA describing the coalition as reckless and irresponsible.
“We’ve had a year of political amateurism and the Netherlands has come to a standstill,” he said. “The PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB were busy with their own issues rather than the country itself.”
D66 leader Rob Jetten said the past 18 months have been typified by infighting and crises.
“They’ve made little progress on big issues,” he said. “And the other coalition parties allowed themselves to be taken hostage by Wilders.”
In the Netherlands, when a government falls, ministers usually stay in place in a caretaker capacity. However, Wilders told reporters on Tuesday morning that all of PVV's ministers will withdraw from their posts immediately.
