Dutch Coalition Talks Break Down

The Wall Street Journal ^ | July 20, 2010 | MAARTEN VAN TARTWIJK And ANNA MARIJ VAN DER MEULEN

[PapaBear3625]

AMSTERDAM—The Netherlands lurched deeper into political limbo Tuesday after renewed efforts to form a coalition government broke down amid disagreements about the scope and speed of economic overhauls.

[snip]

The center-right Liberals were negotiating with a center-left trio of the Labor Party and the smaller Democratic Liberals and Green Party.

[thulldud]

The real issue, and his real opposition, is the Dutch Establishment. It has two faces, the Christian Democrats and Labor, with the faces being swapped when the people get tired of one or the other. He needs to hammer the point that Labor and CD are Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and that a vote for CD is effectively a vote for Labor, because CD won't partner with the Right.

Why does this sound so familiar to me, an American?

[PapaBear3625]

Why does this sound so familiar to me, an American?

Yes, the current RINO wing of the Republican Party is more interested in chewing the crumbs that the Democrats throw to them, than in doing anything that might shake up the system.

In any event, the Dutch are running out of options: Few options open to Liberal leader:

Following the failure of talks to form a new cabinet between the two Liberal parties, Labour and GroenLinks, political commentators say VVD leader Mark Rutte has few options open to him.

Rutte has now suggested looking into forming a cabinet between the VVD, Labour and Christian Democrats, but Labour leader Job Cohen has already dismissed the idea.

Furthermore, the 'purple plus' talks collapsed because Labour and the VVD could not agree on spending cuts - making a deal also involving the CDA very unlikely.

The Dutch will need to hold new elections, and unambiguously choose between Left and Right, with voting for the Christian Democrats not being an option because they cannot be part of any viable coalition.

[Ayn And Milton]

Good points -

I am all for new elections. The situation is unworkable as it is now. What we further need is a true in-depth election campaign, with all leaders explaining their agenda. Not the anti-political ‘pop-campaign’, fuelled by PR-men and spin doctors, that we had before June 9.

[PapaBear3625]

Currently they're talking with the Christian Democrats about forming a coalition. As is typical, the CDs demand that Geert abandon the entirety of his anti-Islamic platform in order for them to join, which would gut Geert's part's popularity among its core (which is probably the plan).

I would be in favor of calling the CDs bluff, and demanding new elections, with the people told that a vote for the CD is a vote for stalemate, and they should either vote right-wing or vote Labor, anything but CD.

[PapaBear3625]

The German Christian Democrats are in a snit because one of their number has dared to invite Geert Wilders to speak in Germany, to the point of talking about expelling the guy from their party. The CDs cannot tolerate any criticism of Islam, they are complete dhimmis

[Ayn And Milton]

As before, I agree. The situation now demands it. IMHO it changes too rapidly to be taken entirely seriously at this point. Stupidest thing Geert could do is to give in to get into government; it would be surrender to the CDs who lost the election bigtime. If Wilders sticks to his guns, and given the current poll ratings, he could become the triumphant winner of upcoming elections.

[PapaBear3625]

Cabinet negotiator says he wants to hear something by Saturday regarding progress on the talks between CDA and the two right-wing parties.

I think CD's strategy is to hold out for concessions which would infuriate the core constituencies of the Right, so as to damage enthusiasm for them. As I've been saying, I think Geert should call their bluff and demand new elections, and tell the electorate that a vote for CD is a vote for stalemate.

[Ayn And Milton]

True. Basically, Geert’s got two options:

- give up his stance on Islam entirely, and surrender to the CDs. That would mean his end, effectively;

- hold on firmly to his position, until Saturday and next week, and surrender to nobody.

If he chooses the second option, and support new elections in the end, he can go cash in. And it’ll be a very, very handsome cash in.

[PapaBear3625]

Yep, his only option with long-term viability is to hold firm, demand new elections, and tell the Dutch people their only options are the unambiguous Right, or the unambiguous Left, and to hell with the CD’s.