Far-right leader Geert Wilders has said on social media he will make a formal police complaint against the leader of the biggest left-wing grouping in parliament for threatening violence against him.

Wilders has also urged his followers to do the same. 

GL-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans was speaking to members at the party conference in Apeldoorn on Saturday when he made the comment Wilders claims is a threat.

“People, our task is clear,” Timmermans said. “We will stop at nothing to prevent Wilders coming to power in this country.” The statement was followed by loud applause. 

What Timmermans meant to say, according to the script issued to journalists in advance, was niet nalaten rather than niets nalaten, meaning “would leave nothing undone”.

“Stop at nothing? Including violence?” Wilders said on social media. “I am going to make a complaint.” 

Wilders then called on his supporters to “make an end to this deadly left-wing inflammatory talk,” and also report it to the police, referring to the murder of Pim Fortuyn, a far-right leader who was shot dead by an animal rights activist in 2002. 

Timmermans later issued a statement saying he had not called for violence. “My means are always parliamentary and nothing else,” he said.  “This is what Wilders always does when he faces criticism. He starts hitting wildly around him.”

Wilders is currently in talks with the VVD, NSC and BBB about forming a right-wing government in the Netherlands, but after nearly five months of talks, little progress has been made.

Wilders has also irritated his potential coalition partners with his regular outbursts on Twitter, despite being asked not to do so.

Last week Timmermans began expressing his impatience at the slow progress being made and said it was to try a different approach. He would need the support of at least one of the four parties currently in talks to form an alternative coalition. 

The GL-PvdA alliance won 25 seats at the election, putting it in second place.