Outgoing Dutch premier Mark Rutte has begun consultations for the formation of a fourth government, on the strength of the success achieved in the legislative elections.
His People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Vvd) came in first, earning 35 seats (two more than in 2017) out of a total of 150 in the lower house of the Parliament in The Hague, with a total of 88% of the ballots scrutinized.
The liberal is therefore weaving his web to form a new coalition together with his old allies, including the pro-European center-left party D66, which recorded an excellent performance by finishing second with 24 seats, thus dethroning the formation of the anti-Islam deputy. Geert Wilders, relegated third with 17 seats.
On the other hand, the performance of the other populist Thierry Baudet who led a fierce campaign against the restrictions on the coronavirus was good.
Its Forum for Democracy now has 8 seats, up from 2 previously.
The intention not to change the formula for Rutte would however clash with the reality of the facts given the disagreements between the left liberals and the Christian Union (CU).
Vvd, together with the D66 and the CDA (Christian Democrats) of the frugal finance minister Wopke Hoekstra, (with 15 seats), would not reach the majority of the 76 necessary seats, which means that they will have to find at least one other partner.
According to local media, the coalition could veer to the left, but the picture is not comforting given the meager results: the Labor Party remains stuck at 9 seats, while the environmentalists of GroenLinks, victorious in the previous legislative elections in 2017, have suffered a heavy drop and now they only have 7.