D66, VVD, CDA agree on key points to form new Dutch Cabinet; Jetten poised to be PM

The three Dutch political parties negotiating to form a new coalition government, D66, VVD, and CDA, have come to terms on all major points of a deal, broadcaster NOS reported on Tuesday. Finer details are still being worked out, but the coalition agreement and spending plans for the coming years could be presented on Friday, sources confirmed to NOS, ANP, and AD.

The expectation is that D66 party leader Rob Jetten will become the next prime minister. His is the largest party in the coalition, and the party that won a plurality of votes in the recent election.

The centrist party and the right-center CDA and right-wing VVD will have to present the terms of the coalition deal to their members of Parliament as a next step. This is expected to happen on Wednesday or Thursday, with the vetting process for Jetten's Cabinet ministers to begin soon after.

It is not immediately clear if the other two party leaders will join the Cabinet. CDA leader Henri Bontenbal has said he wants to remain at the helm of his party's faction in the Tweede Kamer.

VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz served as the economic affairs state secretary in Prime Minister Mark Rutte's third Cabinet, and ran the Ministry of Justice and Security in his fourth Cabinet. She then returned to Parliament as party leader when Prime Minister Dick Schoof's Cabinet took office.

If the deal is announced this week, it means it took just over 90 days to form a coalition since the Oct. 29 election. It is expected that a Cabinet will be sworn in by King Willem-Alexander in four weeks, on Feb. 23. The 117 days of post-election wrangling includes a lengthy winter break, and is still a vast improvement compared to the previous Cabinet.

The chaotic negotiation between the PVV, VVD, BBB, and NSC lasted 223 days between the 2023 election and Prime Minister Dick Schoof's swearing-in event. That coalition between far-right and right-wing parties lasted less than a year, breaking up amid constant sniping and mistrust between party leaders, with PVV leader Geert Wilders making the surprise move to yank his party from the coalition because he felt the democratic process to enact new legislation about asylum policy was too slow.