Coalition talks again bogged down in social media disputes

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Talks on forming a new right-wing coalition government in the Netherlands continue to be dogged by social media posts, particularly by far-right leader Geert Wilders.

On Thursday Wilders refused to withdraw a post he had placed about the VVD’s junior immigration minister Eric van der Burg, describing him instead as someone “who has turned the Netherlands into one big refugee centre” and a “scary little man”.

Earlier Van der Burg had said during a parliamentary debate that the decision not to go for a Wilders-led cabinet was an “excellent one”. Wilders and the leaders of the other three parties have all agreed that they will not be in the cabinet, which means Wilders cannot be prime minister.

Wilders’ new sneer comes despite requests by coalition negotiators to stay off social media in the interests of progress on forming a new government.

VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz described Wilder’s comments as “inappropriate”. “We all need to show leadership and get on with building a cabinet,” she said.

Caroline van der Plas, until now Wilders’ staunchest ally in the talks, told reporters that it is up to Wilders what he does. “It is not my way of using Twitter,” she said ahead of Thursday’s talks.

But when asked about another post by Wilders, in which he retweeted a comment calling on his party, the far-right PVV, to blow up the talks so that there are new elections, she said it was “extraordinary”. Wilders later retracted the post.

NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt also described Wilders’ comments about Van der Burg as “inappropriate”.

“This shows once again that the relationships between them are not good. There is little chemistry and regular outbursts about each other’s behaviour and attitudes,” said RTL political reporter Fons Lambie.

“Almost five months after the elections, you would expect more and more cooperation between potential coalition parties and their leaders. Wilders’ outbursts by tweet continue to annoy and irritate the others.”
Omtzigt held talks with the two coalition negotiators on Thursday morning and all four parties are due to meet later in the day.

The negotiators have until May 15 to reach a preliminary coalition agreement between the four parties and said earlier this week they expect to be in talks up to the last minute.

Talks on controlling immigration remain a source of discussion between the four party leaders and Wilders has said he is not prepared to make any more concessions. They also disagree on dealing with the manure mountain and government finances.

(DutchNews)