AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders said on Wednesday he was very close to reaching an agreement with his future right-wing government partner, nearly six months after his election victory.
Tense negotiations to form the most right-wing government in recent Dutch history have been underway for months since Wilders' come-from-behind victory in the Nov. 22 election, with parties divided over immigration policy and government finances. in the process of.
“I don't think this plan is going to fail,” Wilders told reporters shortly after midnight after 16 hours of talks in which the two parties announced they had reached an agreement on government finances.
Mr Wilders said negotiators would meet again at 10 a.m. (8 p.m. Japan time) to try to finalize an agreement, with the hope that each faction would agree to an agreement before the deadline for negotiations expires at midnight. He said he would make it possible.
If a deal is reached, Wilders' anti-Islamic populist PVV will form a coalition with outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte's center-right VVD, the centrist NSC, and the peasant protest party BBB, giving it a majority of 88 in the 150-seat lower house. He will win a seat. .
Details of the government deal have not been announced, but Mr Wilders has repeatedly said he would only join a government that significantly restricts asylum immigration.
After Tuesday's marathon session, other party leaders also said a deal was close, but Peter Omzicht of the NSC said it was still unclear who would become prime minister.
Mr Wilders is expected to announce his top candidate on Wednesday, after confirming in March that he would not pursue the role. The leaders of the other three parties will also remain in the Diet.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters.
Photos to see – May 2024
