Wilders-Party Leaders Agree On Right-Wing Liberal Gov't Formation

Geert Wilders, leader of the largest party in the Dutch House of Representatives, has claimed that the leaders of the relevant parties have agreed to the formation of a right-wing-liberal gov't. This announcement follows months of negotiations involving Wilders' right-wing nationalist Party for Freedom (PVV), the centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) and the agrarian populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB). The party leaders will now need to gain agreement from their respective factions in order to move forward with the gov't formation process.

• The new gov't - which will not involve Wilders or any other party leader in the prime minister's office or any other Cabinet position - will be one of many firsts. It will be the first time that the PVV has been part of a governing coalition. It previously supported outgoing PM Mark Rutte and his VVD in a confidence-and-supply agreement, but has never before held cabinet positions.
• The NSC and BBB have also never been in gov't, and indeed having been formed in 2023 and 2019 respectively are formed by politicians with relatively little parliamentary experience, compared to those from the VVD.
• Wilders is set to announce the identity of the incoming PM later in the day. NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt has confirmed that Wilders has put forward a name, but does not reveal their identity.