Since then, he has been holding exploratory coalition talks with the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which is the party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, as well as the centrist NSC party and the populist agrarian Farmer Citizen Movement (BBB).
It became clear, however, that the biggest obstacle to a coalition deal was the prospect of Wilders himself becoming Dutch prime minister.
Kim Putters, the intermediary who has been facilitating coalition negotiations, presented his final report on Thursday, suggesting an extra-parliamentary cabinet in which experts and figures from outside parliament and even beyond politics would be chosen to run the country.
Wilders said on Thursday that it was “unfair” and “constitutionally incorrect” that he will not become prime minister. Speaking to journalists, he said that as the leader of the largest parties he had told the leaders of the other parties that “it should be me.” He added, however, that he did not get enough support from parties during the coalition talks to be able to lead his country.
Instead, Wilders will go back to his familiar place in the Dutch parliament, where he started his political career in 1998, a record that makes him the longest-serving lawmaker in the Netherlands.
As part of the deal unveiled by Putters, the other three party leaders – Dilan Yeşilgöz of the VVD, Pieter Omtzigt of NSC and Caroline van der Plas of the BBB – have also agreed to keep their seats in parliament rather than take ministerial posts.
