Nearly four months after the nationalist camp's election victory, the Netherlands is moving toward forming a
"mixed"
government , including technocrats but without Islamophobic leader Geert Wilders at the helm, according to a report Thursday on current political negotiations.
The four parties in talks to form a coalition have agreed to continue negotiations towards an
"equally mixed"
cabinet , made up of people from politics and other sectors, says this highly anticipated report, written by Kim Putters who oversees the negotiations
The four party leaders, including Wilders, agreed to retain their positions as MPs and not to accept ministerial positions, Putters said.
“The decision to fill the post of Prime Minister will have to be taken later
,” he underlines.
He indicates that it would be
“wise”
to strive to achieve a distribution in government,
“for example 50% of people with political ties and 50% from outside”
the political world.
Big victory for Wilders in November
Wilders announced Wednesday evening that he was giving up - for the moment - his attempt to lead the fifth largest economy in the European Union, due to lack of support from the other parties with whom he is trying to form a coalition.
This political figure, who had regularly expressed his ambition to become prime minister after his large electoral victory in November, deplored this outcome to the Dutch media.
"I don't really think it should be that way in a democracy
," he said, adding that he agreed to step down
"as unfair and as constitutionally incorrect as that may be
. "
The last government
of "experts"
in the Netherlands dates from 1918, but the concept of government of technocrats is familiar to other European countries, notably Italy.