After the ruling coalition in the Netherlands collapsed today, Prime Minister Dick Schoff announced that new elections will be held, DPA reported. Earlier in the day, Geert Wilders' far-right party quit the government amid a row over migration policy.
Schoff announced that he would submit the government's resignation to King Willem-Alexander, but his cabinet would continue to function as a caretaker government without Wilders' ministers.
New elections are not expected before the autumn, leaving Dutch political life in limbo.
On Sunday, populist Wilders threatened to withdraw his anti-Islamic Freedom Party, which has the largest number of seats in parliament, if the four-party coalition led by independent Schoff did not agree to his demands on migration policy.
His party's 10-point plan included measures such as closing the Dutch borders to asylum seekers, closing refugee reception centres and ending collection programmes. families of people who have been granted refugee status.
"Without signing our plans on asylum, there will be no amendments to the coalition agreement. The Freedom Party is leaving the coalition," Wilders said earlier today after unsuccessful talks with representatives of the other parties last night.
Opposition politicians immediately called for new elections after the Freedom Party left the government, although the other three parties could potentially continue as an even more fragile minority government.
A hardline anti-immigration stance
The Freedom Party received its strongest public support in the November 2023 parliamentary elections. It has called for troops to be sent to protect the country's borders in case they are not closed to asylum seekers.
Wilders also called for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to be returned to their homeland. According to the Freedom Party's plans, those who have broken the law and have dual citizenship should also be deported and their Dutch citizenship should be revoked.
The opposition has sharply criticized the ruling party
The opposition leader and chairman of the Labor Party, Frans Timmermans, said that the fall of the government would bring the Netherlands to a standstill at a time when Europe is at war and people are worried about their future.
He described the collapsed four-party coalition as powerless, divided and torn by contradictions.
"This is what happens when you give power to the extreme elements," concluded Timmermans, referring to the decision of the system parties to govern together with Wilders' formation.
The leader of the Socialist Party, Jimmy Dijk, also called for new elections, "preferably possible soon".
Was this alliance doomed to failure?
After its surprise victory in the parliamentary elections, the Freedom Party became part of a coalition government for the first time, reaching an agreement with the conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the centrist "New Social Contract" and the populist Farmers' and Citizens' Movement.
The center-right coalition, led by the independent Schoff, was considered fragile from the start, and the “New Social Contract” in particular had serious doubts about whether Wilders' party would respect the constitution.
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the “New Social Contract” had accused the Freedom Party's Minister for Migration, Marjolein Faber, of incompetence. She will be replaced after the party leaves parliament.