NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt is taking a “step back” from active politics, following an “extraordinarily intensive year”.

Omtzigt, who founded the NSC shortly before the November election, said on social media that he would be working more in the background, “for health reasons”.

Nicolien van Vroonhoven, the parliamentary party’s deputy chairwoman, would take part in the budget debate on behalf of the NSC, Omtzigt said. That debate will take place next week.

Omtzigt’s decision comes just days before the right-wing cabinet publishes more details about its strategy for the coming years. He eventually decided to join the new coalition, after changing his mind several times during the formation process.

In recent days, however, various reports have emerged about Omtzigt’s problematic behaviour during talks on the new government’s first budget, in particular he was said to be indecisive and prone to outbursts of temper.

“He kept walking away from the table and then turning round again,” the Telegraaf reported a source saying.

How Omtzigt fell from political pitbull to Wilders’ lapdog

In addition, he was heavily criticised for appearing to suggest that Dutch women should have more children. In the annual HJ Schoo lecture, Omtzigt stated that the declining birth rate in the Netherlands combined with the growth of African countries will have far-reaching implications for migration over the next 30 years.

Omtzigt earlier took a step back for health reasons in 2021, while still an MP for the Christian Democrats. During that period he also resigned from the party and continued as an independent until founding the NSC last summer.

The party won 20 seats in the 2023 election but its support has plummeted since then.