Blow for Wilders as Dutch ruling party snubs cabinet role

THE HAGUE: Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders´ already difficult task of forming a government became even harder on Friday, when the head of the ruling party immediately snubbed a role in his cabinet.

The Netherlands is under scrutiny in Europe and further afield after Wilders´s PVV Freedom Party touched off a political earthquake by comfortably winning the general election on Wednesday.

But Wilders´ dream of leading a far-right coalition as prime minister received a major blow when the liberal VVD of departing leader Mark Rutte declined to join him. The complicated electoral maths of the Netherlands means Wilders needs the support of at least three other parties to build a stable coalition following his stunning win.

With 37 parliamentary seats already secured, Wilders has a long way to go to hit the magic 76 seats required for a stable coalition. Virtually assured of seven seats from the BBB farmers party, Wilders still needs to convince the pro-reform New Social Contract Party of whistleblower Pieter Omtzigt to bring him 20 seats.

But even if Wilders gets Omtzigt on board, he still needs the VVD and its 24 seats. VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz, still reeling from an electoral battering after Rutte´s 13 scandal-hit years at the helm, said the voters had delivered a clear message. “The big winners are the PVV and the NSC. After 13 years, we are destined for a different role. The voters said: ´VVD, sit this round out´,” Yesilgoz told reporters.