A negotiator in the Dutch government formation talks was photographed with a draft coalition agreement in his hands, thereby leaking key elements of the negotiations.
The proposed agreement aims to implement “the most stringent asylum admission regulations ever”, along with a reduction in financial burdens for citizens starting in 2025.
Parliamentarian Gidi Markuszower, from Geert Wilders’s PVV party, carried the document as he waited for a lift, in front of a group of journalists.
Dirk Hol from the Dutch news agency ANP was able to take a picture of the document.
Coalition negotiations are entering a crucial week, with the draft document indicating they focus on economic security and purchasing power, control over migration, housing shortages, infrastructure and public transportation, as well as agriculture and fisheries.
It will be impossible to fix all the country’s problems in one go, states the note, but the country is “in need of some significant breakthroughs.”
The note was titled ‘Main Line Agreement 2024-2028 of PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB’.
The financial burden reduction is aimed at working middle income earners and people in financial distress.
Together with “the strictest admission regime and the most comprehensive migration control package ever”, the agreement seems to address key issues Geert Wilders Freedom Party (PVV) voters want to see tackled.
Earlier, Wilders said that there must be “a strong package” on asylum, otherwise “there will be no cabinet”.
However, the note appears to give no precise financial figures.
There is only mention of ‘PM billion’ in tax relief. ‘PM’ stands for ‘pro mémoire’ and often used in cost estimates and budgets when the exact amount is still uncertain.
Gidi Markuszower (PVV) loopt net met een concept hoofdlijnenakkoord naar binnen. Fotograaf Dirk Hol maakte er een foto van. pic.twitter.com/yizsAJJtJl
— Sam Hagens (@SamHvNL) May 6, 2024
On social media, many people react sceptically to the note’s revelation.
Many believed it was intentionally leaked, possibly to influence the negotiations; or if not, to show the electorate what the PVV wants.
Earlier during the negotiations, Pieter Omtzigt of the centrist New Social Contract Party (NSC) was seen carrying a note indicating he did not want to join a government with the PVV and the Farmer Citizen Movement (BBB).
At the time, both Omtzigt and the liberal party (VVD) indicated they preferred a supportive role from outside, abstaining from being part of a Wilders-led government.
Similarly, in the formation of the previous government, then-lead negotiator Kajsa Ollongren showed a note stating “function elsewhere”.
This referred to Omtzigt, who was being pushed away by the coalition parties.
The new incident prompted a satirical news website to publish a spoof article claiming that politicians now offer advertising space in their notes, as the entire country can read them.
