Geert Wilders has hinted he could withdraw his support for the Dutch government if other coalition parties fail to back the use of emergency powers to declare a “crisis” in the asylum system.

Opposition parties have called for a law to be passed using the fast-track procedure, which would allow MPs to scrutinise and vote on the plans first.

Wilders’s PVV party and asylum minister Marjolein Faber want to trigger the emergency powers as a first step towards implementing the “toughest asylum regime ever”, including stricter conditions for entry and only basic accommodation.

But during last week’s budget debate it emerged that civil servants had advised against the plan and warned that it was highly likely to be thrown out by the courts.

Coalition partner Nieuw Sociaal Contract (NSC) has also said it would not support the measure unless it was approved by the Council of State, which issues non-binding advice on all bills proposed by the cabinet.

Wilders told reporters on Tuesday that he would press for the cabinet to invoke emergency powers, as set out by prime minister Dick Schoof two weeks ago.

NSC support slumps

“If they don’t decide on that it’s not certain that we can support it,” he said.
“Then we have a problem. Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far.”

The PVV is the largest party in the four-way coalition with 37 seats, and the loss of its support would almost certainly trigger new elections.

Wilders’s comments came as a new opinion poll showed NSC’s support had slumped to around 2%, which would cut their number of MPs from 20 to three.

The PVV is on 41 seats, four more than it won in November, while the four coalition parties are projected to fall just short of a majority with 74 of the 150 seats.

“I’m never happy with other people’s losses and I hope all our coalition partners do well, but maybe it says something about last week’s performance and the U-turn on the emergency law,” he said.

“Voters across the Netherlands, certainly those who voted for my party but also NSC, want to go a particular way on asylum policy and I think that’s what we have to do.”

Civil service warning

NSC’s stand-in leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven angered her coalition partners during the budget debate when she invoked MPs’ constitutional right to view government documents to force Schoof to disclose the civil servants’ legal advice.

Interior ministry officials said there was no legal basis for using emergency powers because the current situation was not caused by an external crisis such as the outbreak of war, an epidemic or a natural disaster.

The move to “bypass parliament” was “democratically and constitutionally unacceptable” and should be “withdrawn from the government’s legislative programme”, they wrote.

Van Vroonhoven would not be drawn on whether her decisions or the absence of party leader Pieter Omzigt, who is currently resting at home on sick leave, were responsible for NSC’s declining fortunes.

“We stand behind the decisions made in the coalition agreement. We’ve said that time and time again,” she said.