A new government has finally come to power in the Netherlands, following months of coalition negotiations.
Elections were held in November last year with no party winning a majority.
The Party for Freedom (PVV) was the single-biggest in the Dutch parliament but won only 23.5% of the vote and 37 of the 150 seats.
The new coalition will be made up of the PVV, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), New Social Contract (NSC), and the Farmer-Citizens Movement (BBB).
In total the coalition holds 90 seats.
The forming of the coalition had been difficult as many parties initially did not want to work the PVV, which is considered as ‘right-wing’ by some observers. However, an agreement was finally reached. It will see a former civil servant and political independent, Dick Schoof, become Prime Minister.
Schoof succeeds Mark Rutte, who was the Netherlands’s longest-serving Prime Minister. Rutte will take up the post of NATO secretary-general later this year.
Image by Michael de Groot from Pixabay