The Netherlands: Sounding board for government formation resigns
The Hague dpa - Even before the formation of a government in the Netherlands has begun, the appointed sounding board has resigned following allegations of fraud.
After his clear election victory last week, the right-wing populist Geert Wilders had proposed a member of his own party, Gom van Strien, as the sounding board. He was due to start talks with the parliamentary group leaders today. It is now unclear how the formation of a government will proceed.
It became known at the weekend that the politician's former employer had already filed fraud charges against him in the spring. Van Strien denied the accusations, but resigned after all.
Wilders had won 37 of the 150 parliamentary seats with his radical right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV). He now wants to form a coalition with the center party NSC and the right-wing liberal VVD of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte. However, the VVD has already rejected participation in the government.
In the Netherlands, the first step after an election is traditionally to appoint an exploratory committee to sound out the chances of a coalition. This person talks to all parliamentary groups. Only then do the parties begin substantive negotiations.
Source: www.dpa.com
