The Dutch Liberal party said it will not enter the next cabinet but may support a government formed by the far-right politician Geert Wilders.
The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD, will support a center-right cabinet as “kind of a tolerating partner,” its leader Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius said in The Hague on Friday before a meeting with other party leaders in the parliament.
Wilders delivered a shock election victory on Wednesday, picking up 37 seats. The VVD secured 24 seats in the vote. This contrasts with the 2021 elections where the VVD was the largest political party. Led by outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the time, the VVD had 34 seats in parliament.
Wilders still needs to forge alliances with rivals to achieve the 76-seat majority required to form a government. After the exit polls, Wilders had suggested a center-right coalition would include outgoing premier Rutte’s former party, as well as newly-launched center-right group New Social Contract, or NSC, and the Farmer Citizens’ Movement.
“After thirteen years, a different role suits us. The voter also said: VVD, skip a round,” Yesilgoz said, adding that the party will not turn its back on voters. “We will make a center-right cabinet possible. We will support constructive proposals, so it is a form of tolerance,” she said.
He now needs the support of Pieter Omtzigt’s NSC to lay claim to the premier role.
(Updates to add details from fourth paragraph)
