According to Rutte, VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie have been “always ready to take responsibility in difficult circumstances” in recent years. After a long and difficult cabinet formation, the four parties again concluded a coalition deal early last year. While it also contains agreements on nitrogen and migration, these topics continue to cause mutual tension.
Thrilling
Rutte then takes into account that it can get tense and points out once again how his first cabinet fell in 2012. PVV leader Geert Wilders, then tolerance partner of VVD and CDA, refused to cooperate on a package of cuts to put imbalanced public finances in order. “I didn’t expect it at all,” said the VVD leader.
In next Wednesday’s provincial elections, coalition parties appear to suffer a severe blow, according to polls. A majority in the Senate, then elected by provincial parliaments, seems to be even more hidden than it already is. The question of which parties should do business to get legislation through the senate, the PvdA-GroenLinks combination or rather conservative parties like the BBB and JA21, could then become a new divisive issue.