This Week in Politics
VVD Rules Out Role in Cabinet
The dutch liberal centre-right party VVD has ruled out a potential role in any future cabinet this election cycle. With the party's leader Dilan Yesilgöz stating that the party would need to find a new part in parliament, the party lost 10 seats during election night (going from the largest party to third biggest). This news is a significant loss for Geert Wilders, the leader of far-right PVV, who would likely have needed the support from the VVD to gain a majority (considering the PVV won 37 seats (a 20 seat gain) out of the dutch parliaments 150 becoming the largest party in doing so). The PVV alongside the VVD and the new party New Social Contract (NSC), a centre to centre-right party affiliated with the European People’s party, could have gained a majority within parliament had they worked together.
It is unlikely that the PVV will manage to form a majority due to the limited number of parties willing to work with them and the fact that there are very many small parties that only have 5 or so seats in parliament. This made the VVDs support vital, however, now that it is gone it arises the question whether there really are any other ways for the PVV to form a government. One potential option would be the PVV teaming up with NSC, BBB (centre-right), CDA (centre-right), FvD (far-right), SGP (right-wing), CU (centre-right) and JA21 (far-right). This constellation of parties would be an incredible feat for the PVV to achieve, scraping every right-wing party except the VVD. However, coordinating all these parties and their diverging opinions would be near to impossible, not to mention how improbable it is the PVV could gain the support of all these parties. This would garner 79 seats, 3 above the 76 needed for a majority.
Another option Labour & the Greens party, mustering up 25 seats to start off with. Coalition partners would be SP (socialist), DENK (centre-left), PvdD (animal rights party) and Volt (centre-left). Such a coalition would be 38 seats away from a majority, only reaching half way to a majority. Such a government would be incredibly weak and would need to negotiate on everything, a slow and tedious process leading to an ineffective government.
Yet another option would be a grand coalition between Labour & the Greens, NSC, D66 (liberal), CDA, DENK, CU and Volt. This would lead to a government of 68 seats, still not a majority. Such a grand coalition could negotiate with BBB (right-wing), SP or the VVD on individual matters, however, this would be hard due to the diverging opinions of those within the coalition.
A potential coalition would involve the VVD, despite their current opposition. It would look as follows the VVD, NSC, D66, BBB, CDA and the CU. This would muster up 69 seats, once again just short of a majority.
The Dutch nature of political fragmentation creates an environment in which it is hard to form a government. Negotiations often take months, coalitions fall when one out of the many coalition partners disagree, it's just the way of things. However, it does lead to a slower democratic process overall, that could be both advantageous or detrimental - it depends.
COP 28 Begins
COP 28, the climate conference in Dubai, has begun. A major breakthrough was made when countries voted to start funding a climate relief fund targeted at developing countries without the resources to combat the effects of climate change. King Charles III was there and pleaded for world leaders to act now.
Nikki Haley Receives a Vital Endorsement
Nikki Haley the Republican presidential candidate received a vital endorsement from an anti-Trump organisation financed by billionaire Charles Koch. A huge victory for the Harry campaign, however, a major loss for Ron DeSantis. This could likely make Nikki Haley the second front runner in the Republican primary, however, that doesn't mean to much as Mr Trump is trouncing his opponents in the polls.
