THE HAGUE - The two people appointed to lead the new round of Cabinet formation negotiations said they are beginning by focusing on government finance. The negotiating parties will eventually discuss who should become the prime minister of a new Cabinet during this round. But this question will not yet be on the table in the "first few weeks," said Richard van Zwol on Thursday, who is leading the talks with Elbert Dijkgraaf. The two also said they want this round to be more transparent and generate more confidence in the political process.
The state of the treasury is the critical issue at the moment, they said. During the election campaign last autumn, three of the four parties in talks to form a Cabinet - PVV, NSC and BBB - did not submit their proposals to be scored by budget and finance analysts. There is no clear direction about how they intend to pay for their plans, and the PVV's proposals were considered to be particularly expensive. The fourth party, the VVD, proposed 10 billion euros in budget cuts, but with with a reduced impact on unemployment.
Van Zwol and Dijkgraaf have invited caretaker Minister of Finance Steven van Weyenberg for a conversation about the Spring Memorandum, the Cabinet's annual update on the national budget. This must be submitted to Parliament by June, but could come as soon as April. The subject of the discussion will be "chefsache," Van Zwol said, using the German word that became more common in Dutch politics to mean those issues that must be decided at the highest level.
His enthusiasm for the subject is not a surprise. Van Zwol presented the Council of State's criticism of the Spring Memorandum last year, imploring the Cabinet to face facts about the current state of affairs, stop increasing the national deficit, and reserve more finances for future crises.
"You get it: finances are a major and important topic at the formation table," said Dijkgraaf. This does not mean that the parties involved can only discuss other topics once there has been an agreement on finances. After an initial conversation with them, NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt indicated that he hopes that an agreement will be reached on a financial framework, since it impacts all other plans.
Omtzigt pulled out of talks the round before last because of potential setbacks that ministries identified when asked to submit concerns to the four party leaders. Dealing with the treasury will therefore be a "major part of the job", Dijkgraaf predicted. A new Cabinet must find 17 billion euros in the long term, either through cuts or by raising taxes, several officials said.
But who will be the next Dutch PM?
Now that PVV leader Geert Wilders said he will not seek the role of prime minister, the four parties will have to take up the issue at some point this round. Wilders said he had first claim to the leadership role since his campaign won the most votes in the November election, making his party the largest in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house. Like Wilders, Omtzigt, BBB leader Caroline van der Plas and VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz will also not become the prime minister if the four parties manage to form a coalition government.
But this question will not be on the table in the "first few weeks," Van Zwol said at the press conference. "It is absolutely clear that this must be discussed over time," Van Zwol said.
He agreed that it is considered best practice in national politics that the initiative should lie with the PVV as they are the largest party. Wilders should get the chance to say "we're going to talk about that now, and in this direction," Van Zwol remarked.
The PVV leader affirmed this point on Wednesday during the Tweede Kamer debate about the previous formation round. "I think that we, as the largest party, have the privilege of nominating someone, but of course that must be someone supported by the other three parties," he stated.
More transparency could either advance or hinder the process
Both Dijkgraaf and Van Zwol "want to see if we can share something" if progress is made during the talks, Dijkgraaf said. This must be done "without breaching confidentiality and without ruining the process." At the same time, the party leaders agreed not to reveal very much about what is discussed at the bargaining table.
"That is very exciting for us, very exciting for you," Van Zwol said about the promise of openness to the journalists present. "Why should we be secretive? I think this may be one of the things that needs to change in the Netherlands," he reasoned.
The leaders of the four parties will still speak out publicly about other issues, a "fact of life" as Van Zwol said. All four are members of parliament, and Yeşilgöz has a dual-role as the caretaker justice minister. Additionally, the campaign for European Parliament elections is expected to ramp up.
The politicians are also free to post messages on social media, but they have agreed not to lash out at each other. “That is the Achilles heel,” said Van Zwol. Wilders has repeatedly caused tension within the talks with his ascerbic tweets. Van Zwol said the first meeting on Thursday "wasn't a love fest, so to speak, but that's not why they're at the table."
Brevity could prevent the Cabinet negotiations from dragging on even longer
This round of talks started 120 days since the election, and both Dijkgraaf and Van Zwol want to prevent the process from dragging on for months on end as the politicians haggle to form an extensive, lengthy coalition deal. Dijkgraaf admitted that many attempts at a coalition in previous years failed when they tried to create a broad, concise coalition agreement.
This round is "very specifically aimed" at achieving that goal under the terms of their appointment from the Tweede Kamer. "It is our task to do that this time. That is also our great intention," Dijkgraaf said. "Broadly speaking, that means you have to do it."
Even with a slimmed-down agreement, the four parties can still ensure "breakthroughs" are achieved "which the citizenry is really waiting for."
