Talks on forming a right-wing coalition government will take two to three weeks and will take place out of the public eye, negotiator Ivo Opstelten said on Thursday afternoon.

Queen Beatrix has charged Opstelten with looking into the formation of a ‘stable cabinet’ which can count on a ‘fruitful’ relationship with parliament. The negotiator is focusing on a cabinet made up of the VVD Liberals and Christian Democrats which will be supported by the anti-Islam PVV in parliament.
The talks will involve working out a formal coalition accord, which will be signed by the VVD Liberals and CDA, and a ‘blind eye agreement’ which will also be signed by PVV leader Geert Wilders.
No press briefings
That agreement will outline the policy areas where the CDA, VVD and PVV have different positions but which Wilders agrees not to vote against. The agreement has been dubbed a ‘gedoogakkord‘. Gedoogen means turning a blind eye in Dutch.
The formal talks will begin on Monday and will include dividing up the ministerial portfolios, Opstelten said. The talks will take place within the parliamentary complex but there will be no press briefings. ‘We will be talking to each other, not through you,’ he told reporters.
There is no guarantee of success and the process will be challenging, Opstelten said.

Budget
The negotiator said he also plans to talk to caretaker finance minister Jan Kees de Jager about the government’s 2011 spending plans, which are due to be presented to parliament in September.
The three parties have agreed to bring in austerity measures aimed at saving €18bn. ‘Hopefully the 2011 budget and the €18bn can dovetail as much as possible,’ he was quoted as saying in the Financieele Dagblad.
The right-wing combination will have 76 out of 150 seats in the lower house of parliament but will not hold a majority in the senate.