Next Dutch cabinet likely to be more of the same: Telegraaf

The next Dutch cabinet is likely to be a continuation of the current one because the VVD and CDA do not want to be in a coalition with two left-wing parties, the Telegraaf said on Friday.

Sigrid Kaag, leader of the Liberal party D66, is known to want to form a new coalition with GroenLinks and the Labour party PvdA, rather than again add a second Christian party to the alliance in the form of ChristenUnie.

But the VVD, the biggest party in parliament, and the Christian Democrats are unwilling to compromise and that means the ‘Kaag coalition’ is not on the cards, the paper said.

The VVD and D66, as the two biggest parties in parliament, have spent the past two months drawing up a draft coalition agreement which will be used as the basis for talks with the other parties in the wake of June’s stalemate.

But sources have told the Telegraaf that both the VVD and CDA are digging in their heels about a left-leaning coalition. Kaag is now likely to let this option drop, the paper said.

Kaag and Mark Rutte, as leader of the VVD, are due to hold talks with chief negotiator Mariëtte Hamer on Monday.

The Netherlands has had a caretaker cabinet since early January, when the government resigned in the fall out from the child benefits scandal. The general election was on March 15.