~Election now likely~
THE HAGUE--Austerity talks between the minority coalition consisting of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy VVD, Christian Democrat CDA and Party for Freedom VVD collapsed Saturday afternoon, when PVV leader Geert Wilders walked out. New elections are now very likely, Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters.
In a news conference shortly after Wilders left the negotiations, both Prime Minister Mark Rutte and CDA leader Maxime Verhagen blamed the collapse on the PVV leader.
"At the last moment, the PVV was shocked about the impact of the consequences of previously made agreements," Rutte said.
Verhagen said all hopes of an agreement had been dashed. The PVV leader has "left 16 million Dutch people in the lurch," he said.
The Telegraaf newspaper reported that Wilders felt he had to withdraw from the negotiations after discussing the austerity measures with other PVV officials.
The talks between the coalition and its alliance partner resumed on Saturday to assess the results of a financial analysis of the austerity measures.
In a brief statement, Wilders said he could not accept that pensioners would have to pay for "useless" demands from the European Union. Agreeing with the measures is "not in the interest of our PVV voters," he said.
Labour PvdA leader Diederik Samsom said new elections were now inevitable. "Everyone will have to share in the consequences of the crisis," he said.
However, if there would be an election, it would unlikely to take place before September. This means the minority government would continue in a caretaker function until then, but would be unable to take significant steps to revitalise the economy without parliamentary approval.
In particular, it is unclear what the implications would be for the 2013 budget, on which the coalition alliance had spent the past seven weeks working towards. The budget is always presented on the third Tuesday in September.
An opinion poll published Sunday showed The Netherlands remains highly fragmented politically, suggesting that it could prove difficult to form a new coalition quickly and that Wilders' chances of forming a new government were slim.
The Maurice de Hond poll, conducted after the budget talks collapsed, showed that no single party would obtain a majority if elections were held now, although Rutte's VVD Party has strengthened its lead, followed closely by two leftist parties.
The poll also showed that a majority favour smaller budget cuts than those stipulated by the European Union, a further sign that the notoriously frugal Dutch are suffering from "bailout fatigue" and resent the high cost of rescuing profligate peripheral euro zone countries.
"Voters from different parties share the same view; disgust or disappointment over the political action and the political parties," De Hond said in a statement, adding that two thirds of those polled agreed with the statement: "I'm tired of all the party politics."
Fifty seven per cent of respondents agreed with The Netherlands cutting less than the European Union wants. Supporters of the populist PVV and of Socialist Party (SP) were particularly set against cuts.
The poll showed the Dutch were most strongly opposed to spending cuts that would have a direct impact on standards of living; 56 per cent of respondents opposed the introduction of a new, modest prescription charge, and 47 per cent opposed an increase in value added tax.
The cabinet is set to meet today, Monday to discuss what it should do next to agree on a budget and whether to resign. The Queen could accept its resignation, paving the way for elections, or ask the Prime Minister to form a new coalition.
If elections were called, the VVD would win 33 seats in the 150-seat Second Chamber of Parliament, up from 31 now, the poll showed, followed by the euro-sceptic SP with 30 seats and the pro-Europe PvdA with 24 seats.
Rutte's coalition partner CDA and the PVV, until Saturday his main allies, have both slipped in the polls and would win 11 and 19 seats respectively.
Australasia Weir Japan Disability Restaurants Social networking
No comments:
Post a Comment