Double trouble for Dutch caretaker cabinet: What now?
The Hague is in political turmoil after Foreign Minister Veldkamp and other NSC party members walked out on the caretaker cabinet. Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional Law, calls it ‘bad news for the governability of the country.’
Voermans says that the situation of an entire party withdrawing from a caretaker cabinet is unique in our parliamentary history. The professor is curious how the remaining two governing parties, the centre-right VVD and the farmer-citizen BBB party, will position themselves in the new situation. ‘Will they give Prime Minister Schoof and his remaining “club” the room to implement policy on Israel? What will happen now the NSC party has moved to the opposition?’
As the Schoof cabinet now only holds 32 seats in the House of Representatives, Voermans says it can expect a difficult time. Will a new intermediate cabinet be hastily put in place until the general election at the end of October? From a political perspective, this will be ‘very complicated’, says Voermans. What is more, it is doubtful whether experienced ministers can be found at such short notice. This might not be a problem for the VVD, but time is of the essence for the BBB party. The budget must be finalised before the opening of parliament on Prinsjesdag and ‘majorities are needed for that. It was already a tough task, but it’s going to be even more difficult now because you have so few MPs supporting you in the House of Representatives and the Senate’, according to Voermans.
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