THE HAGUE, June 3 (Reuters) – The Dutch government collapsed on Tuesday, most likely ushering in a snap election, after anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition, accusing other parties of failing to back his tougher immigration policies.
But Prime Minister Dick Schoof, an independent, accused the political maverick of irresponsibility, and the other coalition parties denied failing to support Wilders, saying they had been awaiting proposals from his PVV party’s own migration minister.
PVV ministers will quit the cabinet, leaving the others to continue as a caretaker administration until an election unlikely to be held before October.
Frustration with migration and the high cost of living is boosting the far right and widening divisions in Europe, just as it needs unity to deal effectively with a hostile Russia and an unpredictable and combative U.S. president in the form of Donald Trump.
“I have told party leaders repeatedly in recent days that the collapse of the cabinet would be unnecessary and irresponsible,” Schoof said after an emergency cabinet meeting triggered by Wilders’ decision.
“We are facing major challenges both nationally and internationally that require decisiveness from us,” he added, before handing his resignation to King Willem-Alexander.
The prospect of a new election is likely to delay a decision on boosting defence spending and means the Netherlands will have only a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of the transatlantic NATO alliance this month.
Wilders said he had had no option but to quit the coalition.
“I proposed a plan to close the borders for asylum seekers, to send them away, to shut asylum shelters. I demanded coalition partners sign up to that, which they didn’t. That left me no choice but to withdraw my support for this government,” he told reporters. “I signed up for the strictest asylum policies, not for the demise of the Netherlands.”
He said he would lead the PVV into a new election and hoped to be the next prime minister.
An election is now likely at the end of October or in November, said political scientist Joep van Lit at Radboud University in Nijmegen. Even then, the fractured political landscape means formation of a new government may take months.
